fingerprint-it

2007-05-09T12:29:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint scan favoured in M'sia, S'pore

By Lynn Tan, ZDNet Asia
9/5/2007
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62011592,00.htm

Fingerprint authentication is still the number one choice of security measure for identity verification in Malaysia and Singapore, according to a Unisys survey.

Results from the recent survey conducted by the IT services vendor revealed that respondents from Malaysia and Singapore chose fingerprint scan as the preferred security authentication mechanism to verify their identity with banks, government departments and other organizations.

Slightly over seven in 10 respondents from Malaysia were most willing to use a scan of their fingerprint to verify their identity, while 70 percent of Singaporean respondents chose it as a preferred security measure.

"In Singapore and Malaysia, what we're seeing in the survey is that [respondents] particularly are interested in giving up more personal data to get security and convenience," said Scott Whyman, vice president and general manager for Asia South at Unisys, in an interview with ZDNet Asia.

He added: "I think convenience is a big factor in this, particularly convenience in terms of being able to get fast access to information--whether it be government information, or to get access to their own information stored by banks, but also the whole process of moving through areas that have potential risks, like airports."

On why Malaysians and Singaporeans are more receptive to using biometrics for identity authentication, Whyman noted that Singaporeans and Malaysians have been "generally more attuned with biometrics for a lot more years than other countries".

He explained that citizens in both countries have a comfort level with using an identity card (IC) that contains personal information, as well as personal biometric data--the fingerprint. As such, he added, Malaysians and Singaporeans have been "conditioned" from a young age to be receptive toward the use of fingerprint for identity verification.

Biometric identification is making its way to Singapore. Last year, the island-state installed an automated system--dubbed enhanced Immigration Automated Clearance System (eIACS)--at border control points. The system enables its citizens, who travel in and out of the country, to clear immigration under 12 seconds using biometric technologies to verify their identity.

In November 2006, Citibank launched the world's first biometric cardless payment service for credit card transactions in the republic.

Citibank S'pore launches biometric payment service

2006-11-10T07:58:00.000+02:00

Citibank S'pore launches biometric payment service

By Lynn Tan, ZDNet Asia
9/11/2006
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,61965886,00.htm

SINGAPORE--Citibank on Wednesday launched a new fingerprint authentication payment service that lets its credit card customers pay for goods and services with a touch of the finger.

Touted by the company as the world's first biometric cardless payment service for credit card transactions, the service uses technology from San Francisco-based biometric authentication vendor Pay By Touch.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, Jonathan Larson, CEO and country business manager of Citibank Singapore, said the service provides customers with greater payment convenience as well as added protection against card fraud.

Holders of the Citibank Clear Platinum Card no longer need to present their plastic card when paying for purchases. Instead, cardholders simply press their finger to a biometric scanner and key in a seven-digit "Personal search Number".

Cardholders can subscribe to the biometric payment service at no charge. Registration takes about three minutes at any biometrics enrolment kiosk at five locations in Singapore, including Citibank's branches at Orchard Road, Paragon, Parkway Parade and Vivo City, as well as popular night-spot Zouk.

To register, customers will have to present a valid photo-identification--such as the national identity card or driving license--and their Citibank credit card for verification.

According to Citibank, the biometric payment service will be available from today at nine merchant locations in the island-state, including retail outlets such as music and IT stores, clubs, restaurants and cinemas.

Larson said that there are plans to introduce the biometric system to more merchants, and added that the biometric service could be applied to other applications, including online banking.

John Morris, president and chief operating officer of Pay By Touch, said credit cardholders can be confident in the payment service which uses "military level encryption".

According to Citibank, disputes over any purchase using the biometric service will be handled in the same way as any other credit card payment.

The Pay By Touch fingerprint system was first used in a supermarket in Seattle in 2002.

Biometric Authentication Gains Momentum

2006-06-09T13:47:00.000+02:00

Biometric Authentication Gains Momentum

Mercator Advisory Group research shows that the market for all forms of biometrics from fingerprint scanning to voice verification is growing and anticipates that the global revenues for biometrics will approach $7 billion by 2010. This report examines the role of biometrics in payments both as a single source of authentication or as an additional authentication factor

Boston, MA (PRWEB) June 9, 2006 -- New research report by Mercator Advisory Group predicts market for biometrics to approach $7 billion By 2010.

Mercator Advisory Group research shows that the market for all forms of biometrics from fingerprint scanning to voice verification is growing and anticipates that the global revenues for biometrics will approach $7 billion by 2010. This report examines the role of biometrics in payments both as a single source of authentication or as an additional authentication factor.

"Biometric technology will continue to grow in adoption as an authentication technique, states Melanie Broad, Analyst in Mercator Advisory Group's Emerging Technologies Service and author of this report. "Implementations of biometrics across the board have been slow but steady. However, biometrics will have an important role to play in the future as the technology continues to be used as a second form of authentication for online authentication, ATMs, and in devices such as PCs, laptops and cellular phones."

The report looks at the market opportunities for biometric authentication with regards to payments and reviews the various biometric scanning technologies available. Biometric adoption is forecasted out to 2010 with consideration given to different biometric technologies. The report also examines the different adoption paths of contactless terminals and biometric readers at the point of sale.

Both the market for single factor biometric authentication and multi-factor biometric authentication are examined with an eye to the challenges and opportunities the market segments will face. Among other hurdles, the problem of distribution is discussed on both the merchant and consumer side.

The report identifies current implementations and technologies including a look many of the stakeholders in the competitive landscape. These stakeholders include biometric vendors and terminal manufacturers embedding biometric features into their POS devices.

Highlights of this report include:

* An analysis of market size estimates and the various types of biometric technologies on the market today.
* Biometrics has been used in payments as both a single-factor authentication device and as a part of a multifactor authentication solution.
* We predict the growth in acceptance of biometrics as an authentication technology with a growing acceptance in mobile, online, ATM, and POS environments.
* Biometric payments have shown steady but modest growth in lower margin economic sectors where transaction costs play a critical role piece in the profitability of merchants.
* Among others, roadblocks to biometrics include concerns with privacy, efficacy and the cost of biometric deployments.

The report contains 28 pages and 4 exhibits.

Members of Mercator Advisory Group have access to these reports as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access and other membership benefits. Please visit us online at www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com.

For more information call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: 781-419-1700 or send email to info @ mercatoradvisorygroup.com

# # #

Contact Information

Robert Misasi
MERCATOR ADVISORY GROUP
781-419-1700

Europeans willing to switch banks for biometric authentication

2006-05-24T07:54:00.000+02:00

Over half of banking customers across Europe would be willing to switch their accounts to financial institutions that offer biometric authentication services, according to a study conducted by Vanson Bourne and commissioned by LogicaCMG

The study, which spans seven European countries, shows that 57% of people would be more likely to change their current account provider if all it took was an identity card and fingerprint to establish and prove identity.

In Germany this average increases to 64%, almost two thirds of the population, says LogicaCMG.

The research found that over a quarter of Europeans - 27% - would be more likely to change insurance providers, and 25% would switch savings account providers to an institution that provided biometric authentication, while just over one in five (21%) Europeans would be more likely to start a pension and 17% would be more likely to switch mortgage providers.

LogicaCMG says the research reveals that the introduction of biometrics could lead to much greater consumer confidence in switching between different bank accounts and other financial products.

Although the financial services industry has made huge advances in fraud prevention - such as the introduction of chip and PIN - fear of fraud means that consumers are still not entirely comfortable with security measures implemented banks.

Commenting on the research, Paul Gribbon, consultant in LogicaCMG's electronic identity practice, says as banks have to proliferate across channels such as digital television, the Internet, telephone banking systems and physical branches, biometrics will be a key method in establishing and verifying the identity of customers.

"If people are so much more likely to switch accounts when biometrics hit the high street, then banks need to prepare for this," says Gribbon. "Early adopters will be able to offer a "fast-switch" service, increasing market share at the expense of competitors and controlling and focusing churn to their advantage."

He adds: "This is a clear indication that biometric authentication in the hands of the customer - which can range from voice recognition to an iris scan - will lead to a quiet revolution in the retail financial services market across Europe."

ID verification speed drives biometrics

2006-05-10T07:39:00.000+02:00

By Martin Czernowalow

Posted: 5 May 2006

ID verification speed drives biometrics

The convenience of using biometrics for ID verification outweighs any concerns of lax security methods when using smartcards, according to a new survey.

Webwereld reports a global survey of consumer attitudes to using biometrics found a 5% increase in people who favour the use of biometrics as a preferred method of identity verification. Some 10% of individuals in the Asia-Pacific region would prefer a chip implanted in their body.

The survey, conducted by Unisys, surveyed 1 661 people globally, with 12% of the respondents in Australia. Convenience, according to 83% of respondents, was the main reason for using biometrics on a smartcard and three quarters said speedy verification is the main driver for biometric adoption.

Consumers worldwide support biometrics

Nearly 70% of consumers worldwide support using biometrics technology, such as fingerprints or voice recognition, administered by a trusted organisation (bank, healthcare provider or government organisation) as a way to verify an individual's identity, according to new global research from Unisys (www.Unisys.com).

In the first worldwide survey of its kind to study consumer security preferences, the Unisys research also found 66% of consumers worldwide favoured biometrics as the ideal method to combat fraud and identity theft as compared to other methods such as smart cards and tokens, reports Enterprise Networks and Servers.

This finding shows an increase from separate research that Unisys conducted in September 2005, which found 61% of consumers worldwide favoured biometrics as the preferred method to fight fraud and identity theft.

Biometrics centre of excellence opens

A biometrics centre of excellence has been created in the heart of the Europe Union, in Brussels, Belgium, reports the eGov Monitor.

The new centre is an interactive facility, designed to showcase advanced identity management solutions to customers and illustrate potential real-life examples of biometrics technology. These range from e-ID card and passport technology to biometric identification techniques including 3D facial, electronic iris and finger print recognition.

With security and identity management high on the agenda of European businesses and governments looking to reduce risk and protect themselves against fraud, the new centre will offer executives the opportunity to see first hand the benefits of biometrics technology.

Chip and PIN scam nets ₤1m

2006-05-10T07:34:00.000+02:00

By Iain Scott

Chip and PIN scam nets ₤1m

Petrol giant Shell yesterday suspended chip and pin payments in 600 filling stations across Britain at the weekend as fears grew over a ₤1 million card fraud scam, reports TMCnet.

BP and other petrol companies were also looking into reports of fraud, including a number of incidents in the Midlands, as police seized eight people for questioning. Motorists throughout the UK have had their credit and debit card details copied by fraudsters, and then money has been withdrawn from their accounts.

The scam works by criminals implanting devices into chip and pin machines, which can copy a bank card's magnetic strip and record a person's pin number.

New Java Card version

Sun Microsystems has announced the availability of version 2.2.2 of its Java Card platform specification and Java Card Development Kit, reports SecureIDNews.

Java Card 2.2.2 adds contactless capabilities and biometry support for smart card chip manufacturers, smart card vendors, and Java Card platform implementation providers to embed into their products.

Sun announced the new Java Card platform specification in San Francisco prior to the kick off of CardTechSecureTech 2006.

Security measures enhanced

MasterCard International has introduced two new authentication solutions, the MasterCard All-in-One Authentication Device and MasterCard Mobile Authentication, designed to enhance security for both online banking and e-commerce transactions.

CRM Today reports both solutions are based on the proven MasterCard authentication standard, known as the OneSmart Chip Authentication Programme (CAP), in use in multiple countries around the world.

The two solutions provide enhanced security by offering "two-factor authentication", whereby a consumer employs something only he or she knows (such as a PIN) in tandem with something he/she has (an authentication device or a mobile phone).

Biometrics: Payments at Your Fingertips

2006-03-29T17:10:00.000+02:00

Tuesday March 28, 02:23 PM

By Alex Halperin

In the future, no one will need pockets. That stuff jingling around in there -- keys, credit cards, checkbooks -- will be replaced by something closer to the body. When you need to open a door or make a purchase, chances are you'll do it with a fingerprint, a voice command, or a computer scan of your eyeball.

That is, if companies like Pay By Touch have anything to say about it. Pay By Touch, a closely held San Francisco outfit, specializes in biometrics, or the technology of identifying people by unique biologic traits -- not just fingerprints, but also irises, palms, and voices. And increasingly, those traits are being used in place of keys, credit cards, and even computer passwords.

Founded in 2002, Pay By Touch has signed up more than 2 million people willing to have their fingerprints used as a surrogate for checks and credit cards at more than 2,000 stores, including several large grocery chains. When making a purchase, a customer presses his pointer finger to a pad and then keys in an identifying number as an added security measure before his purchase is deducted from a checking account or added to a credit-card bill. On Mar. 21, Pay By Touch said its device would be installed in all of Albertson's (ABS) Jewel-Osco stores, a chain of more than 200 outlets that combine supermarkets and pharmacies.

KEEP OUT.

It's not just stores that are using biometrics. Elementary schools have installed iris scanners to keep out intruders. Companies increasingly use fingerprint scanners to authenticate computer users. And fingerprint readers have also been installed on locks for house and office doors.

But many consider Pay By Touch to be among the companies most effectively harnessing the rising demand for biometrics. Pay By Touch charges a set fee for each positively identified fingerprint that can run in the neighbourhood of 15 cents for a big retailer, according to Pay By Touch President and Chief Operating Officer John Morris.

What's in it for the store? Using fingerprint scanners can accelerate purchase times by minimizing the checkout lane "fumble factor." Because a customer's Pay By Touch account can be linked to several payment devices, retailers can also save money by encouraging people to use accounts that incur lower fees, such as a checking account accessed by debit card. A recent report by Bernstein Research noted that systems like Pay By Touch could increase pressure on credit-card companies to reduce their charges to retailers so they don't lose market share.

BARGAIN ALERT.

Supermarket owners by and large say they're pleased with Pay By Touch's results. "We'd like to encourage anybody who has a checking account to enroll in Pay By Touch," says Trisha Belisle, manager of retail technology at Cub Foods, a Midwest supermarket chain owned by Supervalu (SVU). Cub Foods is also experimenting with the system to highlight bargains for individual shoppers based on past purchases, a trick the Sunday circular could never manage. She declined to comment on whether it saves the stores money, however.

Advocates say biometrics is a better safeguard against identity theft than current methods. It's easier, after all, to obtain a credit-card number than a fingerprint or voice pattern. But because biometrics relies on a person's biological data, it's apt to make some users even more nervous than other technologies do.

Pay By Touch and partner retailers are aware of the obstacle. The company takes pains to explain that it takes and stores an algorithm of a fingerprint, "a description," rather than the print itself, Morris says. Even so, paying with a fingerprint can inspire the jitters.

PRIVACY PERIL.

Jay Stanley, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology & Liberty Project, says that information obtained by a biometrics company could threaten consumer privacy, though he doesn't single out Pay By Touch. "The main problem with the situation we're in right now is that the technology is really ahead of the law," Stanley says.

The ACLU does not object to biometrics technology itself. "We need a law to prevent against the dark side of new tech to make sure they are not used against us" by the government mandating it or companies selling it, Stanley says.

Yet for many, paying with a fingerprint is becoming as routine as a trip to the ATM. Pay By Touch hopes to ride the wave as far as it can. In January it acquired rival BioPay for $82 million and recently closed on $60 million in capital from hedge funds and private investors. This came about three months after the company announced raising an additional $130 million.

Morris declined to discuss sales or any plans the company might have to go public. But Pay By Touch expects to double sales this year from 2005, in part due to acquisitions.

ONLINE AMBITIONS.

Morris says the company hopes to expand its services to include health insurance information. It also has an initiative that would let customers use fingerprints to make online purchases using the sensors available on some laptops. It plans to announce a participating online store later this year [see BW Online, "Promising Pitches at Demo 2006"].

"I believe it's going to ramp up," Frost & Sullivan analyst Sapna Capoor says of biometrics. "It's only a question of time before the Wal-Marts (WMT) of this world take it on." She expects more mega-retailers to adopt the technology within 18 months.

Fingerprinting is by no means perfect. Philip Youn, a senior consultant with the International Biometric Group, says prints don't register as well with certain groups such as construction workers whose fingerprints have been effaced.

PALM READING.

However, Capoor says that for most existing consumer needs, a fingerprint is adequate and cost effective. Youn agrees. Alternative biometric methods are less well-suited to the checkout line. Iris scanning is expensive and could intimidate customers, he says, and voice recognition would not work in noisy stores.

Capoor also sees consumer biometrics' potential extending far beyond groceries. Looking forward, fingerprints could be used to make purchases through sensor-equipped cell phones, or replace keys as a way to enter homes.

Though fingerprints are seen as most versatile, other biometrics will likely emerge to compete. Fujitsu (FUJ.IL - news) produces a palm recognition device that identifies customers by using "near-infrared rays" to identify the vasculature of a palm. It's already widely used in ATMs in Japan, and Fujitsu expects to introduce the method in the U.S. in the second quarter, though the company won't say how it will be used. It has the potential for use in areas like access to buildings and electronic devices like computers.

HAND IT OVER.

Among its advantages, Fujitsu's method doesn't require contact between the user and the machine, providing at least the illusion that it's more hygienic. PalmSecure only approves palms in which it can detect active blood flow, a way to thwart those who would attempt to scan an approved, but detached, hand.

Pay By Touch uses a heat detector to prevent similarly macabre schemes. And it's working to overcome other would-be obstacles to the wider use of biometrics, envisioning a future when you can leave home without those rectangular pieces of plastic, and a lot else.

Finger food

2006-03-29T16:51:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology proudly presents this new article

Fingerprint scanners offer a new way to pay at Jewel-Osco

By KATHRYN REM
FOOD EDITOR

Published Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Don't bother bringing your checkbook, debit card, loyalty card or Alexander Hamiltons the next time you shop at Springfield's Jewel-Osco stores.

You can pay with your fingerprint.

The two stores, at 1903 W. Monroe St. and 2777 S. Sixth St., have joined a growing number of retailers using a fingerprint-scanning technology called Pay By Touch. For those who choose to sign up, it allows payment for purchases by entering a seven-digit code (usually a phone number) and pressing a finger into a small scanner at the checkout counter.

If you are who you say you are, the cost of your purchase automatically will be withdrawn from your bank account, like a debit card. Once you're registered, you can use the technology at any store using Pay By Touch.

"We started rolling it out in January. We're doing it in waves so personnel can be trained," said Juanita Kocanda, manager of public affairs for Jewel-Osco.

Using the technology is voluntary and free. If you do register, you don't have to use it every time; you choose your method of payment.

"You can start using it the same day that you sign up," Kocanda said.

The primary benefit, she said, is convenience.

"Let's say you're driving past the Jewel and you need to pick up butter, milk and eggs. You can run through the store and then check out. You don't need to fumble with a check or money or get change back," Kocanda said.

If the shopper has a Jewel-Osco Preferred Savings Card, the digit scan will activate it.

Benefits to the retailer are faster checkouts and, ideally, more repeat-customer business.

"I'm not afraid of technology," said Sheila McFadden after registering at the kiosk next to the service desk at the Fairhills Mall store. "I won't have to carry checks or cash. And it's better than a debit card because there's no plastic to lose."

The Springfield woman plans to pay by touch on her next visit to Jewel-Osco.

But not all shoppers feel comfortable giving up a fingerprint to the great unknown.

"I'm not sure about it," said Fred Hinds of Springfield. "What are they going to do with my fingerprint?"

Pay By Touch stresses that it doesn't record actual fingerprints. Rather, the biometric system collects a series of data points on a fingerprint that are unique to every individual. These tiny measurements are converted into a mathematical equation, encrypted and stored at IBM data centers under industry security standards.

No image of the full fingerprint is actually stored, so even if unscrupulous hackers ever got into the system, they would only have elements of a shopper's whorled digit.

To sign up, bring your driver's license or state ID, a personal check and - duh - your finger to the service desk at either Springfield store.

Although most users choose to scan an index finger, any finger or a thumb can be used.

Piggly Wiggly, Cub Foods, Thriftway and Bigg's stores are using the technology in some states. At Kroger, it's used to clock in employees. Disney World scans visitors for security purposes.

Jewel-Osco - the Midwest division of Boise, Idaho-based Albertson's, which has 2,500 stores - is using Pay By Touch in more than 200 stores in Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. Kocanda said several thousand shoppers have registered.

Dutch coffee shops introduce fingerprint ID

2006-03-23T05:52:00.000+02:00

By Jan Libbenga

Published Tuesday 21st March 2006 10:36 GMT

Some Dutch coffee shops, which sell marijuana in small quantities for personal use, are introducing fingerprinting technology to check the age of customers.

The shops are not allowed to sell to anyone under the age of 18. Coffee shops currently require photographic ID for proof of age.

The first coffee shops to use turnstiles with built-in fingerprint sensors are Inpetto in Rotterdam, Birdy in Haarlem, and 't Rotterdammertje in Doetinchem in the east of the country. Customers must first register with the shops, but personal details will not be stored.

The technology has been developed by FingerIdent (http://www.fingerident.com/), a company owned by Gerrie Mansur, one of the members of legendary Dutch hacking group Hit2000. According to Mansur, the system can match 35,000 fingerprints in less than a second. ®

FW: You Say Fingerprint, We Say "Tiny Measurements From Your Finger Which Are Unique to You"

2006-03-23T05:51:00.001+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology presents:

Area Jewel shoppers don't need to bring a wallet to buy groceries anymore, just a fingerprint. Excuse us, not a fingerprint, just their finger, and its "hundreds of characteristics in the grooves at the end of the index finger--like spacing, size and curvature," that can identify them in seconds. Okay, that sounds a lot like a fingerprint.

On Tuesday, Jewel announced that it had rolled out the Pay By Touch system in all 204 area Jewel and Jewel-Osco stores. Customers who sign up for the service can press their finger to a terminal, enter their phone number, and the system will debit a checking account associated with the account. Pay By Touch is already in use at 24 area Cub Foods stores, and almost 10,000 people have signed up since Jewel began testing in January.

The makers of Pay By Touch insist that the system doesn't pose a privacy concern (or any more than a store affinity program or auto-debit system does) because it doesn't store an actual image of a fingerprint. The software captures unique elements of fingerprints and converts them into a proprietary mathematical equation that is encrypted and stored on a central server in Colorado. Pay By Touch says that even in the worst-case scenario in which a hacker steals this data, they couldn't do anything with it because it's not tied to a full fingerprint. Privacy advocates say that customers should still be wary of any system that uses a single piece of data to authorize access to your bank accounts.

Chicagoist is always the first person to give cool new technology a whirl, but we're not sure this system, ahem, buys us anything other than a few seconds of convenience. We don't mind taking a debit card out of our wallet and swiping it in lieu of letting Jewel store our fingerprint--sorry, our fingerprint's groove-spacing, size, and curvature--mainly because we like to limit the number of places that have our checking account information on file. The Tribune article cherrypicked quotations from a few skeptical customers, and their web poll shows that about three in four people aren't comfortable with the Pay By Touch system. People are afraid to use those self-checkout lanes at Walgreen's and Home Depot, so we wonder why people would suddenly be willing to set aside reasonable privacy concerns to use a system that maybe cuts 10 seconds off their checkout time. Have any of you signed up for Pay By Touch, and what made you decide to do it (or not)?

Posted by Matt Wood in News: Chicago

Digital Persona sells fingerprint ID to Mexican bank

2006-03-23T05:51:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Presents:

San Francisco Business Times - 2:52 PM PST Wednesday

Digital Persona Inc. said Wednesday it sold its biometric identification system, which uses fingerprints, to Banco Azteca, a Mexican bank.

Redwood City-based Digital Persona didn't say how much Banco Azteca, owned by Latin American giant Grupo Elektra SA, paid for the system.

Banco Azteca sells financial services to Mexico's mass market. The use of the fingerprint scan eliminates the need for customers, many of whom are poor, to show other forms of ID.

Digital Persona, which was founded in 1996, has about 80 employees and pulled in about $10 million in revenue last year.

2006-03-21T10:39:00.000+02:00

Up to 3m people not ready for midnight shift to chip and PIN
By Ben Hoyle

NI_MPU('middle');

WAITERS, disabled and elderly people are likely to be hardest hit when the chip and PIN switchover happens at midnight tonight.
New rules obliging all chip and PIN card users to enter a four-digit code to verify a purchase come into force tomorrow, despite forecasts of chaos at checkout tills.
The banks and retail groups that are driving the change argue that chip and PIN transactions are faster and more secure than signing for a purchase, which has been phased out over the past three years.
But one in ten businesses will fail to meet the deadline for adapting their tills, and yesterday Gordon Brown cast doubt on the technology’s effectiveness, suggesting that biometric measures such as fingerprint recognition were cheaper and safer. The Chancellor told the Royal United Services Institute, London, that finger-scanning devices had already replaced PIN numbers in Californian supermarkets and on Japanese cash machines.
“They are more secure against fraud and theft. And across the world in very different cultures most people seem happy to use biometric schemes when they see direct value in greater security, greater convenience and lower cost.”
From midnight tonight, retailers will be able to refuse to accept payment from people using chip and PIN cards if they do not know their number.
The British Retail Consortium said yesterday that the technology had reduced counterfeit card fraud in the first six months of 2005 by 31 per cent compared with the same period in 2004, and cut lost or stolen card fraud by 27 per cent.
A spokeswoman said that the transition should be smooth because 80 per cent of high street transactions were already conducted in this way.
However, consumer groups fear that vulnerable individuals have not been made aware they will be eligible for other methods of payment after the changeover. Customers with a legitimate problem with chip and PIN, such as poor eyesight, arthritis or memory and mobility problems, qualify for a new chip and signature card.
The National Consumer Council estimates that up to three million Britons could have difficulties with PINs. “Many vulnerable consumers are being told that they will have to use their PINs,” the NCC said. There is also concern that the face-to-face nature of chip and PIN payments is reducing tips in restaurants and hotels. Martin Couchman, of the British Hospitality Association, said: “In some parts of the country . . . people simply weren’t getting tips.”
Apacs, the trade association for the payments industry, said yesterday that 10 per cent of Britain’s 860,000 tills had still not been updated to process chip and PIN technology. If they accept a signature as proof of identity then they, rather than the bank supporting the card, will be liable for any subsequent fraud.
PLAYING THE NUMBERS GAME
How can I come up with a memorable number?
· Choose a year — but not the year of your birthday — that has some significance. For example, the date of a famous historical battle or the day your football team won the FA Cup
· Substitute the letters of the alphabet for numbers, so A is 1, D is 4 and I is 9. However, the word you use must only have letters between A and I in it, e.g. fade, which would be 6145
· Use the numbers from the car registration of your neighbour
· Use the last four digits of your old telephone number or that of a close relative/friend
· The exact time of your birth in the 24-hour clock format
· The exact personal best time of your favourite 100 metre sprinter
How many chances do I get to remember my PIN?
As with cash machines, you have three goes to get the numbers right. If your third attempt fails the card is automatically “frozen”. You will then have to contact your bank.

National Identification System for Ghana; House Takes 2nd Reading

2006-03-20T07:54:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technologies Presents:

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
NEWS
March 17, 2006
Posted to the web March 17, 2006

By Linda Akrasi

Parliament has unanimously approved the report on the bill that will establish a national identification system and provide a central database of all Ghanaians as well as foreign nationals permanently resident in Ghana.

This would enable Ghanaians to be uniquely linked to a proven biometric identifier and automated fingerprint identification mechanism for the issuance of national identification cards.

Taking the bill through the second reading, members admitted the need for the country to have a national identification system to make it easier for identification purposes.

Moving the motion for the adoption of the report, the minister for Public Sector Reforms, Paa Kwesi Ndoum, said the national identification system was a significant step in the history of the country.

He said the actualization of the system would allow the nation to move a step forward in this democratic era.

Seconding the motion, the chairman for the joint committee on constitutional, local government and rural development, defence and interior, Kwame Osei Prempeh, said there was the need for the development of a multi purpose identification system.

He said the report observed that the system was a very crucial tool for planning to ensure sustainable growth and development of all sectors of the economy.

The report stated that it was more crucial to establish a credible source of authentic database to guide the provision and delivery of relevant social, economic and political services in the country.

The report noted with satisfaction that the operationalisation of the system would constitute a key infrastructure for the integration of public and private sector business transactions.

The committee took note of the fact that an operationalised multi purpose identification system would serve as a basis for improving and increasing public access to social services by increasing more of such services.

When given the floor, deputy minority leader, Doe Adjaho, said registration of Ghanaian citizens abroad was a very dangerous exercise because one had to determine who qualified as a Ghanaian.

He noted the need to fine-tune the bill so it could become an acceptable data and ensure that the identification process was transparent.

Minister for education and sports, Yaw Osafo Maafo, in his contribution admitted that the Electoral Commission (EC) should be independent in the implementation so that the system would be credible.

He said if the implementation were done, it would save the nation the billions of cedis it spent in registration processes prior to elections, thereby cutting down cost entirely.

"It is long overdue," he declared, advising that the bill be done without a bi-partisan approach.

Minority leader, Alban Bagbin said there was a difficulty in identifying Ghanaian nationals because of the provisions of our law on citizenship.

He said as a country we should build consensus on the identification system to produce a credible data.

"Lets create some consensus and agree on modalities," he called on his colleagues and Ghanaians in general.

Rounding off the debate, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Kwadwo Mpiani, assured members of the independence of the EC and asked that the issue be looked at passionately.

He added that the concern of the minority leader be taken into consideration so that the nation can have a credible database.

The implementation of the bill was to establish a National Identification System. The system provides a central database of individuals uniquely linked to a proven biometric identifier, based on advances in biometric technology.

The system is meant to address the issues of national concern and will have some interconnectivity between the national data center, regional sites, some ministries, departments, and agencies, national security agencies and private organizations.

Based on this national database system and the biometric identifier - the automated fingerprint identification system -, secure national identify cards will be issued to all citizens of Ghana and foreign nationals permanently resident in Ghana.

Discussions on the issue of identification for citizens began during the Busia Administration. The Identity Cards Decree 1972 (NRCD129) required citizens of Ghana aged sixteen years and above to be issued with identity cards.

The decree further stipulated that the card was to be accepted as evidence of the identity of the holder in cases where the identity of the holder may be an issue. A person who was required to hold an identity card was not to be employed unless the person produced the identity card.

Public and private employers would be required to enter the identity card number of each employee in the personal records of that employee, and each person responsible for social security scheme was to use the allocated identity number instead of the registration number allotted to contributions under the scheme.

In 1973, national identity cards were issued to citizens in five border regions of the country including parts of Western region, the Volta, Northern, Upper and Brong Ahafo regions. The project was however discontinued three years later due to lack of financial and logistical support.

In 1987, the government of the Provisional National Defense Council, through the National Commission for Democracy, revisited the national identity card concept by establishing several committees, including a technical implementation committee, to examine and propose a unique numbering system.

It was also to work out the modalities of the national identification system, determine the computer-based equipment required and the cost involved, and advise on funding. Due to economic difficulties, the process was not pursued.

FINGERPRINT SYSTEM COULD MEAN END TO PAYING WITH CHIP-AND-PIN CARDS

2006-03-13T05:20:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology presents:

FINGERPRINT SYSTEM COULD MEAN END TO PAYING WITH CHIP-AND-PIN CARDS

By Ruki Sayid, Consumer Editor

A NEW fingerprint system could make the new chip-and-pin cards obsolete.

It links people's "dabs" to their bank details so they can pay by just touching a scanner.

There is no need to carry cards or cash or remember pin numbers.

Three supermarkets in Britain are testing the system, thought to be the first in Europe.

It is popular in the US, where 2.3million people have signed up in 2,000 shops.

The system is free for customers to use. They can sign up on the internet or at the stores.

They then have their fingerprint recorded by an in-store scanner.

An "electronic wallet" is created by swiping their bank cards.

When they want to pay, the scanner checks their identity before taking the money from their accounts.

The system is being piloted in three Midcounties Co-op supermarkets in Oxford. Bill Laird, the group's retail manager, said: "Initial response from our customers is very encouraging.

"They are embracing Pay By Touch because it helps them get through the checkout faster without having to hunt for cards, cheques, wallets or purses."

He added: "The whole UK retail market is currently focused upon the introduction of chip-and-pin technology to improve service and reduce fraud.

"Pay By Touch offers additional benefits and challenges existing thinking on card transactions."

Fingerprint recognition is seen as generally very reliable but it is unclear whether many retailers will want to pay so soon for the new technology.

The introduction of chip-and-pin to combat fraud became compulsory only last month.

And there are drawbacks for people without clear prints.

Builders and labourers could have problems because the constant manual work wears down their fingerprints.

And surgeons face similar difficulties because of frequent handwashing.

Mr Laird promised: "We will carefully evaluate customer and operator reactions to the system throughout the period."

r.sayid@mirror.co.uk

Fingerprints 'point' to anti-ID theft safeguard

2006-03-09T07:33:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification technologies Present:

Publisher: Keith Hall
Published: 08/03/2006 - 11:13:35 AM

Fingerprints - anti ID theft solution?

Identity fraud remains the fastest rising crime in the UK but fingerprints could point the way towards prevention.

The Co-Operative supermarket chain has today launched trials of a fingerprint scanning process designed to check a customers identity whilst they pay at the check-out till.

Three stores in Oxford are offering a 'Pay & Touch' system similar to a payment option that is already in use throughout the United States where almost 2.5 million customers rely on the process.

Each customers account database contains a fingerprint profile which is linked to their bank account details so users no longer need to carry cash or cards to their Co-Op store, nor are they required to remember their chip-and-pin numbers.

A Co-operative supermarket spokesman claims the free system will be of benefit to its customers.

"It offers us a slight edge over the competition.

"It's a very tough retail world and anything we can do to encourage more people to shop with us gives us a commercial benefit."

Co-Op customers can register for the service at home via the internet, or directly at the three Oxford stores concerned, and if the trials prove to be a success it is understood the ID method could be rolled out across the UK.

However, it appears unlikely that other retailers will follow the Co-op lead and install additional technology at their check-out tills because of cost implications.

It is also felt that many UK retail customers are still coming to terms with the introduction of chip-and-pin.

The use of fingerprints is not a new idea in the fight against identity theft. Indeed, Scotsman Jamie Jamieson has spent much of the last four years trying to convince financial institutions in this country that people can protect themselves from ID theft - without the extra expense of electronic scanners - as he carries an ink pad around in his pocket!

He claims customers can help protect themselves by literally taking the matter into their own hands.

Mr Jamieson was inspired by a 2001 anti-fraud scheme which ran in several towns across the country which was set up to protect shops from fraudulent use of credit and debit cards. Customers were asked to submit a fingerprint to authorise each transaction.

This fingerprint was kept by the shop in paper form for up to 6 months, and if a fraud was attempted the police had access to the offenders fingerprint as each transaction could be matched against their national database of known criminals fingerprints.

Mr Jamieson realised that people in the UK have the legal right to examine their financial records (for a small fee) and can challenge them if they feel they are incorrect - but crucially - customers can also amend their records with a 200-word special notice.

He decided to use this element of the record to specify that all major financial transactions carried out in his name can only be authenticated with a copy of his thumbprint. Therefore, anyone attempting to impersonate him would have to be prepared to do this to gain approval - effectively handing the police a valuable piece of evidence.

Mr Jamieson is convinced his system, unlike the Co-Operative initiative, will deter criminals because they are forced to use their print if they attempt to make fraudulent transactions, and his instructions have to be adhered to by the banks and financial companies he uses: "If someone has stolen my identity, basically I can hold that lender responsible. I can say ' is there a print on it?' If the answer is no, then that product should not have been granted. And if there is, I can say it is not mine."

He says for £6 he is protected against any liability and he insists any thumbprint which was present could be given to the police to help them track down the fraudster.

"The total cost of it to myself was three letters, three stamps and a little ink pad that I carry around with me permanently. I can think of nothing more effective, or as simple, or as cheap."

After hearing of the Co-Operative trials this morning, Mr Jamieson said his method remains a more useful anti-ID theft solution.

"I would say that my system forces crooks to use their print if they wish to steal my ID.

"The advantages of my system are:

* It protects individuals

* It deters

* It aids identification of perpetrators

* It works where electronic systems fail

* It's a system that doesn't say no to the genuine individual (Real rejection rates)

* It's easy to enrol into, and unlike a password or PIN based system it can't be compromised, stolen or lost."

Sagem Morpho Enters FIPS 201 Pre-Certification

2006-03-01T14:09:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology Presents:

Sagem Morpho Enters FIPS 201 Pre-Certification

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/27/2006 -- Sagem Morpho Inc., an industry leader in fingerprint and smart card technology, is pleased to announce on January 31, 2006 the submittal of the JD-ID Mark 64 v.1 card with PIV Applet and the Sagem Morpho PIV Client API v.1 to InfoGard Laboratories for FIPS 201 certification (link: http://csrc.nist.gov/npivp/, select Pre-Validation List to the left). The JD-ID Mark 64 v.1 card also recently completed FIPS 140-2 certification testing through the same laboratory. The secure and verified identification credentials as established in PIV are the outcome of the NIST FIPS 201 standard prompted by the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12).

In addition to providing a PIV compliant smart card, Sagem Morpho also provides PIV compliant middleware capable of personalizing and managing the contents of the card, including:

--  Applicant's personal data (e.g., name, DOB, Social Security number,

    etc.)

--  Applicant's CHUID (Card Holder Unique Identifier)

--  Applicant's biometric templates and facial image on the contact chip

    of the card

--  Applicant's PIN, required to unlock the biometric templates and other

    data objects from the contact chip on the card

--  Symmetric and asymmetric keys: PIV Authentication key, Card Management

    key, Digital Signature key, Key Management key, and Card Authentication

    key.

With these tools Sagem Morpho is furthermore pleased to announce their registration to participate in the NIST PIV Demonstration Project, known as CRADA (http://csrc.nist.gov/piv-program/CRADA, click on Participating Vendors).

Sagem Morpho is best known as a top provider of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) supporting many state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, including the FBI. Sagem Morpho also provides states with live-scan systems for driver's license issuance and welfare service card issuance to prevent duplicate enrollment.

Presently, Sagem Morpho manages a debit card program for the New York State Office of Temporary Disability Agency, to identify individuals applying for medical, financial, or physical needs assistance. Sagem Morpho produces 8,000 cards daily at two mailed Card Production sites and two 1-hour service Over-the-Counter sites. In addition, Sagem Morpho provides smartcards with fingerprint templates as well as smart card and biometric readers to a medical benefits pilot program in a Southwestern State. This pilot demonstrates the capabilities of biometric and smartcard technology to eliminate fraud. Should an individual attempt to enroll under a different name, the duplication will be caught during the biometric enrollment process. Thereafter, applicant fingerprint data is stored on a contact chip for 1 to 1 verification when medical services are required.

As an access control solutions provider, Sagem Morpho implements both indoor and outdoor biometric access control terminals that enable three-factor authentication by way of card, pin number, and biometric verification. Sagem Morpho, sub-contracting for a nationwide Access Control Company, provided over 600 access control terminals for portal control at a major U.S. airport. These terminals have been in use for roughly 18 months. In the logical access arena, Sagem Morpho is the technology partner of choice to various solution providers for single sign-on in hospital environments, and point of sale in various markets.

For More Information on Sagem Morpho's PIV capabilities contact: James Conniff 703.797.2668

About Sagem Morpho, Inc. (www.morpho.com)

Sagem Morpho, the industry leading biometrics company, develops, manufactures, and integrates multiple biometric technologies including fingerprint, palmprint, iris scan and facial recognition products and services. SAGEM Morpho applies more than twenty-five years of global experience in biometric identification. It delivers trusted and reliable biometric solutions to address a wide variety of markets that include the Federal Government, homeland security, law enforcement, drivers' licenses, civil identification, as well as commercial and consumer applications. SAGEM Morpho's solutions are in use by government administrations including the FBI and many other Federal, State and local agencies. Sagem Morpho is a wholly owned subsidiary of the European group SAFRAN.

ID fraud costs country R40bn a year

2006-02-28T14:27:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint-it presents

ID fraud costs country R40bn a year

By Edwin Naidu

As government goes ahead with its plans to introduce new "smartcard" identity cards, criminals are fleecing the South African economy of billions of rands.

"Thefts through the use of the bar-coded identity document are causing many problems and something has to be done quickly," said Pat Cunningham of South African Fraud Prevention Services.

Cunningham said the organisation had a list of 45 000 names on its database of people who had committed fraud by using identity documents that did not belong to them.

The database, which is shared among several industry players, helped to prevent fraud of a possible R400-million last year.

'The buoyant economy over the past few years has fuelled fraud'

"All major banks, furniture and supermarket retailers, microlenders and motor finance corporations linked to our organisation reported a huge increase in fraud."

Cunningham said fraud through improper use of identity documents went up by 29 percent last year to an estimated R40-billion.

Delegates at a conference hosted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Sandton last week were told that white-collar crime was costing the economy an estimated R80-billion, with more than 40 000 cases a year reported.

Green ID books with a barcode are already commonly used. The book contains a photograph and fingerprint of the holder, but the photograph can easily be replaced. The government plans to replace the green book with a barcode on a credit card-style ID with personal details stored on a microchip.

Although the government originally considered issuing the smartcards for free and charging for subsequent replacements, it will charge around R120 per person during the R1,5-billion roll-out expected to occur over five years.

'We are putting all fingerprints collected when individuals apply onto a digital system'

The smartcard will also replace the old reference books and blue pass books which, although accepted as ID by some financial institutions, do not allow the bearer to vote. Only South Africans with a bar-coded identity book are allowed to vote.

The current ID book has been described by home affairs officials as easy to forge, allowing criminals to take advantage of delays in introducing the new card.

"The buoyant economy over the past few years has fuelled fraud," said Fred Steffers, managing director of the Consumer Profile Bureau (CPB). He said crimes involving the fraudulent use of identity documents were costing the economy billions of rands.

"Fraud is escalating on a daily basis. Using the identity document is an easy way to commit a crime and the chances of getting caught are low," he said.

Credit was easily available because of the booming economy: "In some instances one need only provide an ID number and address to obtain credit. Three months later the original owner of the number is chased for non-payment."

The home affairs department has also received thousands of complaints of the use of ID documents in fake marriages.

Nkosana Sibuya, a spokesperson for the department of home affairs, said the department was still in the planning stages of introducing the smartcard ID.

"We are putting all fingerprints collected when individuals apply onto a digital system. We hope to finish by September and then start rolling out the smartcard," he said.

The government had allocated R270-million to the ID smartcard project, another R132-million for back-record conversion, R44,4-million for an electronic document management system, R15,2million for the redesign of a population register and R72,2-million for the rewrite of the movement control system. Tenders for the issue of the smartcard would go out once the cabinet had given its approval, Sibuya said.

The home affairs national identification system (Hanis) project consists of three components: the automated fingerprint identification system (Afis), the integration of systems, and the smartcard.

"We have moved to implement the two first components with the introduction of the electronic document management system as well as a back-record conversion process to convert all fingerprint records to electronic format to allow for online biometric verification. We are targeting to complete the digitising process by September," Sibuya said.

It was hoped the first ID smartcards would be issued by the end of this year. The first recipients of the cards will be beneficiaries of state social development grants.

CIO Jury: Will biometrics replace passwords and PINs?

2006-02-17T13:35:00.000+02:00

CIO Jury: Will biometrics replace passwords and PINs?
The 'eyes' have it as IT bosses give fingerprint and iris scanning the thumbs-up

By Andy McCue

Published: Thursday 16 February 2006

Iris and fingerprint-scanning technology will replace passwords and PIN numbers as the long-term answer to identity management problems, according to UK IT chiefs.

An overwhelming majority of IT bosses - 11 out of the 12-man silicon.com CIO Jury IT user panel - predicted biometrics will overcome the current technical and standards issues to be a more user-friendly and secure alternative to passwords.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, CTO at Manpower, said: "As a user of an IBM fingerprint protected laptop, I am a convert. It provides quick and secure access. The advantages of biometrics are for truly mission critical security and/or ease of access. When these apply we will see growth."

Biometrics will replace passwords in many institutions in the next 18 months via fingerprint recognition for authenticated sign-on and via iris and facial recognition for physical building access, according to Graham Yellowley, director of technology at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International.

He said: "Bloomberg have already deployed a biometric keyboard to authenticate users and many institutions are looking at implementing fingerprint recognition to provide a fully authenticated sign-on, though this will not be the single sign-on that most firms are aspiring to."

Mark Devine, IT director at ACCA, said: "It is generally accepted that technology will deliver a useable quad-band/G3/PDA/television/MP3 that works in the jungle or the desert and is also waterproof to 200m. Given this level of micro-electronics and processing ability is there any doubt that current issues with biometrics will be overcome? Thereafter, like most pervasive technology, it's a matter of cultural resistance."

Paul Broome, IT director at 192.com said biometrics are preferable to Bill Gates' vision that Microsoft will aggregate a users' passwords and account information with a new product called InfoCard.

Broome said: "Yet more mirth from Microsoft regarding security - we will trust them to roll up and hold all our passwords? It's more secure writing them on your shirt cuffs."

A slightly more sci-fi vision of a biometrics future was painted by Nick Clark, director of IT services at Tower Hamlets College.

He said: "In the longer term I expect identity will be via an implant, and we will be connected permanently to the net. I don't mean a Borg collective consciousness as we will all be individuals. It's going to be just like the mobile phone, creeping into our lives until we think we can't do without it and so won't even think of disconnecting."

But Neil Hammond, IT director at British Sugar, said he favours existing identity management technology over the "Hollywood glamour factor" of biometrics.

Hammond said: "I can't see biometrics replacing user ID and password as the basic mechanism for routine security because that is easy to set up and administer. For more secure identification I still see the tried and trusted Secure ID token as the preferred mechanism for a while yet."

Today's CIO Jury was...

Paul Broome, IT director, 192.com
Nick Clark, director of IT services, Tower Hamlets College
Colin Cobain, IT director, Tesco
Mark Devine, IT director, ACCA
Michael Elliot, IT director, Hasbro
Kevin Fitzpatrick, CTO, Manpower
Mark Foulsham, CIO, eSure
Neil Hammond, IT director, British Sugar
Rory O'Boyle, head of IT, The Football Association
Jacques Rene, director of IT and projects, Airclaims
Davesh Shukla, head of IT, London City Airport
Graham Yellowley, director of technology, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International

Finger scans replace cash at Gonzaga

2006-02-16T14:50:00.000+02:00

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Gonzaga_Finger_Swipes.html

Monday, February 13, 2006 · Last updated 10:16 a.m. PT

Finger scans replace cash at Gonzaga

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPOKANE, Wash. -- About 400 students at Gonzaga University are among the first in the nation to use finger scans to pay for meals and other expenses in the campus area.

Sodexho Inc., the company that runs food service operations at Gonzaga, has launched pilot programs at the Spokane school and the University of North Texas to see if "biometric finger scans" are workable.

Spokeswoman Sarah Cody said Sodexho will see how well they work before deciding whether to use the technology at some of the 900 other campuses the company serves.

Scott McCoy of Fair Oaks, Calif., uses a finger swipe to pay for things like pancakes at Arny's, a Gonzaga area diner.

"It made my parents more comfortable giving me money, because they know what I spend it on," McCoy said.

The program, known as iMye, operates like a gift or debit card. Students or their families deposit money into an account that can be managed online. At campus cafeterias and coffee shops, students use their fingers like cards a scanner reads the print and performs the transaction.

The program doesn't use fingerprints or maintain a database of them. Students have their fingerprints scanned, but the program uses algorithms to create an identification based on a series of numbers. No images of the fingerprint are kept, the company said.

Vijay K. Sharma, vice president of sales and business development for iMye, said Friday that the finger scans are more secure than cash or credit cards.

"If my mother were asking me that question (about security), I'd say, 'Mom, signing your name to a receipt for a credit card and handing it over the counter to somebody you don't know compromises your security much more,'" he said.

Sharma said the system gives parents more knowledge about their children's spending, and can't be used to buy alcohol.

Nick Perrault, president of the GU student body and an intern working to promote the program, said the fingerprint issue has caused some concern among students. But that generally passes, he said.

"There's kind of a cool factor," Perrault said. "Just being able to put down your finger and not whip out a card."

Let your fingers do the shopping

2006-02-16T14:28:00.000+02:00

Let your fingers do the shopping

Kurt Steffen, manager of Cub Foods on South West Avenue, uses the store's newly installed Pay By Touch checkout system, which recognizes his fingerprint and automatically debits the purchase amount from his checking account. Photo by Joe Tamborello

Local Cub Foods offers high-tech option for payment at checkout

By Gary Mays, The Journal-Standard

FREEPORT - It's not “Big Brother.” It doesn't store your fingerprints for the thought police to plant somewhere, or sell your personal information. And, by the way, it's a convenient and highly secure way to pay for groceries.

Those sentiments may have come in handy for employees of Cub Foods, a Freeport store that's been a showcase for some of the newest trends in retailing innovation in recent months. The trend began months ago with self-pay kiosks, which store officials say have been a hit, even among their many older customers.

But the thing that has people talking, and educating customers, is the Pay By Touch system, in which customers who sign up for the service need only swipe a finger over a small scanner to pay at the cash register. Once a shopper opens an account using a kiosk at the busy store, the biometric image - not a fingerprint - of their finger is linked to a bank account. Biometric technology maps features of eyes, hands and fingers that are unique to each individual.

When a shopper scans his or her finger on future visits - usually two fingers are scanned - that unique profile is instantly recognized, and the money taken from an account. Only about 5 percent of the population are unable to participate in the program due to such idiosyncrasies as odd-shaped or damaged fingers.

Pay By Touch also is capable of consolidating any loyalty and discount cards into a customer's profile.

According to Store Manager Kurt Steffen, it's not all that different from using a debit card - it just doesn't take quite as long. And if you happen to forget your wallet or leave it in the car, you are still in business with Pay By Touch. Some experts also tout the fact that Pay By Touch can reduce consumer reliance on credit because the system is typically linked to a checking account, and consumers are more likely to use the most convenient option, such as, in this case, an appendage.

The system also can link to accounts set up for recipients of government food assistance, something store officials say helps eliminate the social stigma of using food stamps or LINC cards to buy food.

“That is a major plus,” Steffen said. “No one knows how you are paying.”

As for those shoppers prone to Orwellian paranoia, Steffen said there's no cause for alarm. Personal data is secure, and will never be sold to any outside vendor, he said.

Rose Bear, front-end manager at Cub Foods, has helped roll out the new system to employees and customers. As part of the campaign, Cub employees are sporting lime green T-shirts inviting shoppers to ask them about Pay By Touch. She said that since Feb. 1, when the program began, the store has enrolled about 200 shoppers.

“It has been going very well,” she said, adding that complaints and concerns about Pay By Touch technology, while spirited, have been few and far between. Same goes for the store's relatively new self-checkout machines, which Steffen said were introduced as another convenience option for shoppers, not as a way to replace staff with machines.

The biometric payment technology at Cub Foods and other national chains comes courtesy of San Francisco-based Pay By Touch, which is emerging as an industry leader in retail technology solutions. The company is gobbling up smaller players in what used to be a niche market, and currently boasts a 7,000-store client base.

In addition to competitive advantage, the finger-scan technology saves the store money by reducing fees paid to companies that process credit and debit card transactions.

Brown drums up support for biometrics

2006-02-16T13:45:00.000+02:00

Brown drums up support for biometrics
by Antony Savvas
Wednesday 15 February 2006
Chancellor Gordon Brown has been praising the use of biometric technology for cross-border control, anti-terrorist activity and to combat identity theft.
Brown said that if biometrics could be used by US supermarkets and Japanese banks, the technology could be put to government use too. “With passports now requiring biometrics
Article Continues Below
80% of the adult population will have to register their biometrics to ensure our borders are secure and so they can travel freely across the world.”
Brown added, “Already one million people have bought and used an IBM laptop which uses fingerprint recognition to control access.”
He said manufacturers were now looking at the same fingerprint recognition technology to make mobile phones and MP3 players worthless if stolen.
Brown said that 40 other countries plan to introduce biometric passports by the end of the year.

Brace yourselves for biometric ID

2005-11-16T14:18:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint-it.com presents

November 15 2005 at 07:25AM

By Fiona Gounden

South Africa's major chain-store groups are conducting trials with
fingerprint technology which may mean shoppers will soon no longer
have to carry cash.

All that shoppers would have to do is memorise their PIN codes. The
system, which is called Pay by Touch, is widely used in the US and
consists of a scanning machine that reads the fingerprint of the
shopper, bringing up details of their credit or debit card.

Shoppers don't need to carry any cards or cash when they go
shopping. It has been a hit with shoppers in the US and has sped up
transactions and dramatically reduced fraud.

This technology does, however, raise a number of cultural issues
Shoprite Checkers is already investigating Pay by Touch, according
to Brian Weyers, marketing manager.

"The Shoprite group is well aware of the new technology, which only
asks the consumer to memorise a personal security number without
having to carry any cards or cash, which will mean they are less at
risk of being robbed.

"The scanning machines at till-points that read the fingerprint of
the shopper are highly specialised. Our specialists who have visited
the US say it has reduced crime and could prove to be successful in
South Africa."

Weyers says the process could take between one and two years to
introduce: "We have been looking at this specific technology and are
talking to the various players such as the banking groups who all
have a role to play to make it happen in South Africa.

"It is our hope to introduce it sooner than later, given the obvious
benefits to the consumer. This should take over a year if we're
fast, or up to two years if we choose to conduct more
investigations," says Weyers.

Gerhard Roux, head of information technology at Woolworths,
says: "Woolworths is aware of the technology and we are already
conducting trials internally. The technology does have merit. We are
conducting surveys with customers to get a general overview of how
widely it would be accepted."

Roux says issues need addressing. "This technology does, however,
raise a number of cultural and religious issues around people being
reluctant to make fingerprints available to companies for reference
purposes.

"Woolworths' view is that although this technology is an important
development we will only roll this out after receiving general
customer approval and after having advanced experimentation."

The chief executive officer at Spar's head office, Peter Hughes,
says the chain store is already working with banks to discuss the
advantages and shortfalls of biometric identification.

"We are very aware of Pay by Touch. With technology moving so fast,
this may take place in South Africa soon. We've been liaising with
banks who are also conducting investigations into biometric
identification. If it's deemed to be advantageous, then we'll
consider doing it in a few years' time."

Pick 'n Pay will adopt biometric identification at its stores if it
proves a success at major retail stores, according to managing
director Harold Dawson: "Pick 'n Pay has always been committed to
adopting new technology for the benefit of its customers. We've seen
that banks are planning to introduce fingerprint technology at the
ATMs.

"If we find that major retail stores are introducing biometric
identification at their stores and it is effective, then we will
definitely introduce it here."

The Ideco (Identification Company) Group, which specialises in
fitting biometric identification technology equipment, has
identified certain tactics that can be used by criminals and is
working on it.

Biometric identification expert and the company's director, Albie
Geldenhuys, says: "Some criminals may be able to fake a fingerprint
by lifting the fingerprint off a glass and creating a fake finger.

Our specialised systems in the identification sensor screens are so
hi-tech that it can detect this.

"However, if a criminal chops of someone's finger or hand, then it
could be used for a while, and thereafter would be useless. We are
busy working on this and investigating different technology to
detect this."

This article was originally published on page 7 of The Star on
November 12, 2005

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ID fraudsters bank billions

2005-11-15T09:29:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint-it presents

By Mark Carrels

Fraudsters using stolen or copied identity documents are stealing millions of rands from unsuspecting South Africans in what is becoming one of the fastest-growing criminal activities in the world.

Since April last year, identity fraudsters have stolen more than R83-million from banks alone, while experts say identity theft worldwide already amounts to billions of dollars.

Head of forensics at First National Bank in Johannesburg, Eddie Blight, said identity fraud or impersonation theft was the fastest growing fraudulent activity in the world.

"But though the banks are a target we are declining more accounts where ID fraud is suspected due to authentication systems."

While South African banks lost at least R83-million to fraudsters using stolen or copied IDs, fraudulent claims based on stolen or fake IDs cost the life assurance industry a staggering R200-million in 2003 alone.

South African Fraud Protection Services said far too many photocopies of IDs were in circulation, helping fraudsters commit theft on a grand scale.

"Almost every bank and business needs a copy of one's ID, but what are they really doing with these IDs?" said spokesperson Patrick Cunningham.

Cunningham warned that most South Africans were not safeguarding their identity documents appropriately. And it did not help that the department of home affairs was unable to keep a tight rein on the issuing of fraudulent IDs.

There had been allegations that some employees of organisations that required ID photocopies for transactions were stealing other people's identities to buy goods fraudulently or to open bank accounts where stolen money was deposited and cashed.

Business Against Crime's project director for organised crime Graeme Wright said identity fraud was particularly rife in motor vehicle theft.

"Even though traffic authorities require original licence documents when vehicles are registered, fraudsters still manage to assume the identity of the actual owner of the vehicle."

Most of the stolen vehicles ended up being moved across the border to neighbouring countries where they were sold illegally.

The managing director of South African Banking Risk Information Centre Pierre Steyn confirmed that identity fraud was a "very, very serious" problem in South Africa, even though it was difficult to quantify.

Banks had established that identity fraud was the first step in a chain of criminal events that often ended in the transfer of money from legal owners to criminals.

He said corruption at the home affairs department, where some officials were colluding with fraudsters, was rife.

Sometimes corrupt officials helped fraudsters create new identity documents from the IDs of dead people by changing the photograph.

Fraudsters often used stolen IDs to obtain credit, resulting in lenders registering innocent people as poor payers which ruined their credit ratings.

On Friday South Africa's major banks announced plans to use fingerprint identification that could phase out the use of ATM cards. This would limit ATM theft and the fraudulent use of cards.

Approached for comment, home affairs spokesperson Stokwe Fotoyi admitted his department could not rule out that officials were involved in identity fraud.

"But we are committed to bringing corrupt officials to book. We have many immigration officers who will leave no stone unturned in arresting corrupt officials."

Fotoyi warned members of the public not to accept help from "street agents" who apparently "organised" personal documents, especially for illiterate clients, in return for a fee.

Director of Forensic Services at Standard Bank, Robin Bhagwandass, said identity theft worldwide amounted to billions of dollars.

"As for the size of the problem here, we are unable to state a figure."

He added that phishing, in which spam mail is sent to computer users under the guise of genuine transactions, was also a popular method of fleecing people of their money.

Crimeware or spyware were another popular way for fraudsters to gain illegal access to personal information with a view to commiting fraud. He said customers should be careful who they shared information with.

"Your bank will not ask you for your user ID or password. Neither will your bank request personal information that they already have on file."

"When doing internet banking, make sure that you have accessed the correct address. Ensure you have downloaded and run the latest anti-virus software. Keep your ID/drivers licence and cheque books in a secure place and dispose of statements by tearing them up," said Bhagwandass.

You should report the loss of these documents to your bankers and South African fraud prevention services as soon as possible, he added.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on October 30, 2005

Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-10-30 13:54:00

ATM thieves to get the finger

2005-10-30T16:40:00.000+02:00

By Fiona Gounden

South Africa is on the brink of a banking revolution with the introduction of fingerprint identification at ATMs and the phasing out of cards and PIN codes.

Major banks in the country are investigating the use of fingerprint identification, which could be introduced within the next seven months.

The banks are already conducting tests into biometric identification technology, where fingerprint verification sensors are used on ATMs. Clients place their fingers on the machine sensor and the screen tells users whether they have been recognised, and whether they may withdraw cash.

Countries like Colombia have already introduced this and it has been dubbed as the "hardest form of authentication to imitate".

Pierre Steyn, CEO of the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, the unit set up by the banks to deal with crime, said: "We have been looking at strategies to deal with crime at ATMs for a long time. We believe that it (fingerprint identification) would give ATM criminals difficulty.

"It would mean that they would have to chop off a person's finger to gain access to their money."

Absa Bank has already started preparing for biometric verification. Pravesh Mahadeo, General Manager for the Self Services Channel at Absa, said: "A fingerprint is such a unique feature. No two people share this, even if they are twins. We see the use of this technology as quite likely in the future. Absa has been conducting a number of tests.

"The only shortfall is looking at tolerance levels for fingerprint recognition, particularly with elderly people and manual workers.

"Their fingerprints tend to get worn out and we may need to improve our imaging for these prints to be recognised."

The technology could be introduced quickly, depending on how the banks worked with each other, said Mahadeo.

"Other banks would have to accept us and we would accept them. So all major banks would have to work closely together on this initiative and it could take anything from seven months, if we work fast, up to a few years."

Herman Singh, director of engineering at Standard Bank, said: "Tests of fingerprint testing started as a pilot project last year and we believe it is reaching an advanced stage.

"Fingerprint technology is being used at our pension payouts. Pensioners have praised this new development as they find it more convenient and hassle free. This has proved so successful that we think that ATM fingerprint verification will be an even greater progression."

Singh said the bank was also experimenting with voice verification at ATMs.

"The good thing about bio-metric verification is that characteristics like the fingerprint and voice are almost impossible to duplicate," he said.

"With more than 12 000 ATMs, a great deal of planning will have to go into this. It would take a few years as all banks would have to be standardised, and we would need to work together in transmitting information to each other," he said.

First National Bank's Mike Arnold, who is the CEO of the Self Services Channel, said the new technology was proving to be a huge success in other countries and the bank believed a breakthrough in biometric identification technology in South Africa was "imminent".

The Department of Social Welfare has introduced a fingerprint identification system at payout points for pensioners. The department's chief officer for Social Security Services, Sifiso Khanyile, said it had been highly successful.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Independent on Saturday on October 29, 2005

ID fraudsters bank billions

2005-10-30T16:39:00.000+02:00

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on October 30, 2005

Fingerprint-it launches their new Time Manager

2005-10-13T07:42:00.000+02:00

http://www.fingerprint-it.com proudly launches their new Time Manager Product

For more details see: http://www.fingerprint-it.com/pdf/Brochure_Time_Manager.pdf

New identity solution in SA

2005-10-07T15:34:00.000+02:00

South African biometrics group Fingerprint-IT is introducing a product
designed to combat identity fraud, phishing, password theft and
repudiation, says company director Bryan Kimmel.Kimmel believes biometrics
technology has entered the second phase of its lifecycle in terms of
global applications, and is moving away from being solely an access
control solution.Fingerprint-IT's BioIdentity application is a third-party
verification and identity register, which requires that clients submit
their identity details to the vendor, which captures these and submits the
information to BioIdentity over the Internet or direct
connection.BioIdentity checks for non-duplication and then registers the
client along with their details, says Kimmel."The client initiates a new
transaction when purchasing something or when his identity has been
confirmed. He does this by placing his finger on a fingerprint scanner,
and BioIdentity then returns a positive, negative or unknown result."If
the result of the verification is positive, Kimmel says, the vendor can
then proceed with the transaction knowing the true identity of the client
has been established.Furthermore, the system can be integrated into any
transactional system to enable the secure processing of any type of
financial transaction that is identity bound. Kimmel claims this
eliminates all hacking vulnerabilities, as well as ensures security for
the client, merchant and financial institution.Kimmel says that, apart
from eliminating the threat of fraud and skimming, the system also allows
for quicker checkouts and customer convenience, and enables
customer-pattern tracking and directed promotional advertising. In
addition, BioIdentity can be used for age verification for movies, as well
as sales of tobacco and alcohol products."BioIdentity works with any
fingerprint reader, providing it meets our stringent security
requirements."Kimmel points out that vendors do not require expensive
server hardware or IT staff to manage yet another system, which means
there is a low up-front cost."It is available as a standalone system and
integrates into any existing application," Kimmel says.

Posted: 10/7/2005 10:35:17 AM

---------------------------------------------------
ITWeb - First with IT news. Every day.
For more topical IT industry news, views and analysis,
visit us at http://www.itweb.co.za
---------------------------------------------------

Biometrics fights cyber crime

2005-10-06T16:57:00.000+02:00

Biometrics systems solutions are best suited to fight rapidly growing
cybercrime.This is according to Iona Press Services CEO, Matthew White,
who was speaking at the e-government forum yesterday. The forum is part of
the seventh annual African Computing and Telecommunications Summit, being
held in Sandton from 4 to 7 October.Many company executives are unaware
that the biggest data loss they are likely to suffer happens internally,
he said."Research firm Gartner predicts 60% of security breach incident
costs, incurred by business this year, will be as a result of company
insiders working alone or in conspiracy with outsiders," said White.The
crimes are mostly motivated by financial or political reasons, he
said.Xhead = Easy targets"The chances of an employee getting caught, given
that the current state of protection, are minimal."However, consequences
of intellectual property theft are becoming more severe, which was
highlighted by White's example of a Durban-based company that dismissed
its senior manager and had him charged with intellectual property theft
worth R5.5 million.Furthermore, a sharp rise in cybercrime and other
information breaches last year was reported by the US National Computer
Security Centre, White said."Of the 520 large US corporations such as
government agencies and universities that responded, 64% reported
intrusions, up by 16% in a year and the Internet was the main point of
attack."Intellectual property theft is a worldwide problem, White pointed
out. He also warned that companies should not allow employees to use
internal systems outside of work, as a company may be held liable for
unfairly dismissing an employee found to have abused the company's
system.Xhead = A biometric keyThe civil ID and PC/networked access would
be the leading biometric applications over the next five years, White
said.Biometrics has emerged as a worldwide identification and verification
solution, with large-scale deployments under way in countries including
SA, Malaysia, Chile and the US, he said.A market report revealed that
biometrics revenues attributed to PC/networked access are expected to grow
at a rapid pace over the next two years, White said, driven by the
increased awareness of employee authentication levels at the enterprise
level."Password management is currently a significant cost factor that can
be reduced significantly through the use of biometrics instead of
passwords, with the added benefit of elevating the level of security."
Asked about how easy is it to fake fingerprints, White said: "I've heard
that communications systems company Sagem is currently testing what they
call 'dead finger detection' but I do not see the possibility of anyone
faking a fingerprint."

Biometrics deployed in prisons

2005-10-05T22:18:00.000+02:00

The Department of Correctional Services has deployed an R88 million
security system that uses biometric technology in prisons countrywide.The
installation of the new security system from Sandolo Consortium started in
June 2005 in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It has now been
installed in 66 prisons and all prisons will have the system by March next
year.The system controls and monitors access to correctional centres."If a
person visits the centre, an official has to be present to allow them in
or out. The official will use their fingerprint instead of a card for
entry and exit to the individual centres," says Manelisi Wolela, deputy
commissioner of communication for the department.The system includes
parcel scanners, metal detectors and a turnstile gate, which is a
print-reading facility used to monitor access in the centres, he adds.
"This is the best identification system that we have installed. It has
integrated use within the individual centre and a number of screens for
the officials to view who comes in and out. To ensure the success of the
inspection, a central checkpoint is set up by individual centres."
Correctional services minister Ngconde Balfour says the security system is
expected to improve safety and security in centres, and enhance the
department's fight against fraud, corruption and unethical behaviour of
officials, members of the public and offenders."The system is designed to
help officials to focus more on the rehabilitation of offenders with
improved safety and security," he says.Though minimising the escape rate
in correctional centres is a central factor to the installation of this
system, Wolela says: "The system hasn't been around for a long time, so we
can't expect to see measurable results as to the number of escapes. The
fact remains that there are still escapes and we don't want that."

Latest update on BioIdentity

2005-09-28T06:21:00.000+02:00

Check out this URL http://www.fingerprint-it.com/sol_BioIdentity.html

It explains BioIdentity and allows you to download our latest PPT presentation

Canadian condos secured by barely lifting a finger

2005-08-16T20:47:00.000+02:00

Canadian condos secured by barely lifting a finger

Mon Aug 15, 3:06 PM ET

The latest luxury condominium project on Canada's west coast will be the first residential building in the world to replace key door locks with biometric security, the developer told AFP.

Instead of fumbling with keys, tenants will be able to scan their fingerprint to access their apartment in a new high-rise building now under construction in the Tony Yaletown neighbourhood in downtown Vancouver.

"This technology is usually found in financial, government or high security applications," said developer James Schouw. "But, it has become cheaper, more reliable, and everyone lately is concerned about security."

"Now, you never have to worry about losing your keys," he said.

Scanners will also be set up at the front door, parking garage, bike storage area, and in the elevators to prevent indiscriminate access. If someone loses a finger or has their arms full with bags, the system will recognize several fingerprints encoded from both hands.

Some buyers worried that along with hindering burglars, the security will hinder impromptu visits by friends and family, but a concierge will usually be available to scan guests' fingerprints too and give them temporary access, Schouw said.

The 71 units in the two-phase building were listed for sale from 600,000 dollars (500,000 US) to 4.25 million dollars (3.5 million US).

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.

SA implements access control project in Canada

2005-08-11T05:37:00.000+02:00

South African-owned biometrics group Fingerprint-IT today announced the
successful installation of the first residential building-wide biometric
access control system in Vancouver, Canada. The project is valued at C$100
000 (over R 524000).The high-end Grace Development, in the Yaletown
area of the city, already has a reputation as one of the more unique
buildings in Vancouver. Developers James Schouw and Associates have
completely secured the building, using only fingerprint access
control.This means that only the owners and their guests can access the
building, no one can steal a proximity-fob to get in, there is an
unforgeable record of who entered the building and when, and owners no
longer need to carry keys."Biometrics is the security of the future," says
CEO of Fingerprint-IT North America Warren Kimmel."Anyone can steal your
key or fob, and people lose them all the time - that's not secure at all.
With what is happening around the world today, security is everyone's
prime concern.""If you have guests they can be added to the fingerprint
recognition list for the period of their stay and then removed when they
have left. The system is totally customisable, so cleaners and gardeners
can be given access to the front door only, or the garden area only, or
whatever the building requires," adds James Schouw, chairman of James
Schouw and Associates."There are a lot of sub-standard systems out there
that just don't do what they promised. We have all seen fingerprint access
work on TV, but in the real world these things are tough to get right.
Residential installations are the toughest of all - apart from stopping
unauthorised access, the system can never deny authorised access - it
needs to operate at 100% efficiency, 24/7."Fingerprint-IT, says Kimmel,
had not been the developer's first choice: "The developers recently
threw-out a biometric system sourced from a large international company
that was not up to the job."South Africa is a unique testing ground
environmentally, politically and socially. Biometric software and hardware
has to be totally 'bullet-proof'. Take gold mining for example: In this
industry, the systems are exposed to the harshest weather conditions with
dust and dirt a normal and must not malfunction."Bryan Kimmel told ITWeb
that the company is set to release SA's first credit-based biometrics
system, aimed at the financial sector.

Posted: 8/10/2005 11:00:28 AM

ID Theft: Meeting The Problem Head-On

2005-08-09T14:17:00.000+02:00

August 05, 2005

By Christopher T. Heun

Courtesy of InternetWeek www.internetweek.com

What’s really scary about identity fraud is the final chapter, when victims – not their banks or credit card companies – discover the crime, usually almost six months afterward, with no real advocate to help them argue their innocence and get their money back.

Sometimes, that last chapter has no ending. More than 1 of every 4 victims of identity fraud are unable to resolve their cases after a year of trying, according to a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. Even more alarming: 16 percent of victims wind up paying an average of $6,440.

“That shocked me,” says Kirk Herath, chief privacy officer for Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide. “I was not aware people would be liable for that much.”

The reason they would be in such a hole is because a criminal had used their debit card. Unlike credit card fraud, in which individuals are usually off the hook for anything over $50, liability for losses stemming from a stolen debit card can be anywhere from $1,000 to the total amount, regardless of how much.

Account holders are also responsible for all cash transfers, whether they made them or not. As for the unresolved cases, Herath says they usually drag on because of a lack of evidence; credit card companies are suspicious of their own customers acting dishonestly.

“It’s very hard to prove you didn’t do it,” he says.

In total, stealing financial information to make fraudulent transactions has become such a big business -- 9.3 million Americans were victimized for a total of $52.6 billion last year, according to Javelin Strategy and Research -- that Congress is working on new legislation to protect consumers, with similar bills in progress in dozens of states. Some companies are offering services to help victims. Observers disagree if the problem should be solved with more technology or less.

The most important step after discovering identity fraud, Herath says, is filing a police report. “If law enforcement has deemed you a victim, that goes far with financial institutions and proves you’re not a fraudster trying to get away with something.”

But police, often in smaller jurisdictions, can be indifferent to identity theft, Herath says, because they aren’t trained in computer forensics. “There’s no uniform way to deal with this at the law enforcement level,” he says.

In the Nationwide survey of 1,097 identity-fraud victims, conducted by MarketTools Inc. in June, 40 percent named either the police, financial institutions or credit issuers as the most difficult to work with while attempting to resolve their case.

Nationwide has launched an identity theft recovery service that will save victims from the hassle of phone calls and letters to banks, credit-card companies, credit bureaus and collection agencies. The company’s survey found that victims spend an average of 81 hours trying to clear their name, spending $581, on average, in out-of-pocket expenses on such things as legal fees, telephone charges, copying and postage, and lost work wages. Nationwide has sold more than 25,000 of the new $45 annual policies since March to holders of its homeowner, condo and renter insurance. A similar victim’s advocate service was launched this week by the New Jersey Skylands Insurance Association and Affinity Federal Credit Union, Basking Ridge, N.J., for their members free of charge in a partnership with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Identity Theft 911.

As for the companies in charge of securing the personal data of thousands or even millions of people, a majority of them are treading water without a sufficient plan, simply reacting to the new federal regulations as they are passed, says Trey Guerin, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Network Security Consulting in Columbia, Md. That includes the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Hippa) of nearly a decade ago to the more recent Sarbanes-Oxley and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Acts, with more laws inevitable.

“Now [companies] can no longer afford to do that,” Guerin says.

Guerin believes companies need to start treating information security like any other business function, the same as human resources, sales or marketing. NSC helped Bon Secours Health System, which operates hospitals, nursing care centers and assisted living facilities in nine eastern states, to develop a security program with a core set of requirements that included regulations, information assets, and business procedures.

“Technology is the easy part,” he says. “Cultural and organizational change is the hard part.”

James Van Dyke, the founder of Javelin Strategy and Research, advises his financial institution clients to share more information with their customers when they suspect identity theft. That means sending account holders email alerts if a large amount of money is suddenly withdrawn, or if multiple high-value transactions, especially foreign ones, occur. Wells Fargo heeded his advice this week and introduced just such a service that lists purchases over a certain amount and incorrect login attempts at their online account.

Van Dyke and Nationwide’s Herath agree that consumers should be vigilant about their bank statements. Most people are misinformed about how their personal information was stolen and then used fraudulently (hint: a stolen wallet, dishonest waiter or dumpster diver is more often to blame than the Internet) and those who bank online are less likely to be a victim because they check their accounts more frequently, Van Dyke says. Relying on paper statements through the mail means average losses of nearly $4,000 more, because the extra weeks it takes for the postal mail to be delivered gives crooks more time to spend, literally.

“When it comes to identity fraud and its connection to the Internet, it’s unbelievably misunderstood,” says Van Dyke, who doesn’t expect the incidence of identity fraud to increase next year.

Herath says all of this is not a problem for technology to solve, but simply a matter of unrealistic expectations. Consumers take for granted conveniences like instant credit and don’t seem to recognize the pitfalls – that it’s just as easy for an imposter to open a new credit account, too. The easiest way to change that is to turn back the clock a decade or more and require written signatures on financial documents – and actual human beings to verify them. As a result, applications for credit cards would take three or four weeks, mortgages a week.

“It’s possible to create a more secure system, we just need to slow down,” Herath says. Or, we could keep the instant access but accept three different points of verification, including biometric data like a retina scan or fingerprint – “but it’s extremely expensive and at a certain point it would be a big hassle.”

“People want security, they want privacy, but they aren’t willing to pay for it or wait the extra two to three minutes to get verification,” he says. “There’s a schizophrenic vein in the public. They want complete access to all credit and also be secure.”

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2005-08-08T16:27:00.000+02:00

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Development offers fingerprint access

2005-08-05T17:09:00.000+02:00

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=f4a8ce41-2923-496f-a7c5-3164e90c7711

Yaletown residences believed to have the first building-wide biometric access control system in Vancouver

Michael Kane

Vancouver Sun

Friday, August 05, 2005

True luxury living means never having to lift a finger, except to get into your ultra-exclusive condo.

Developer James Schouw is raising the quality bar to a new threshold for these security-conscious times by offering fingerprint-only access at his high-end Grace project in Yaletown.

Buyers don't have to worry about keys or remote control entry devices which can be lost, forgotten or stolen. Instead they pass a finger over a palm-sized reader and, open sesame, they are in.

It is believed to be the first residential building-wide biometric access control system in Vancouver.

The Grace also has a conventional front door lock, but the only key, in case of an emergency, is held by the fire department. Letter carriers, cleaners and other service providers need their prints scanned to get limited access to certain parts of the building at certain times.

The system keeps a record of who entered the building and when, and security is further enhanced by video surveillance, motion sensors and alarms.

Schouw says he chose the system because he wants "only the best" at the Grace, and other systems are vulnerable if keys or remote control entry devices fall into the wrong hands.

"You can't loan out or lose your fingerprints," he said. "And there is a huge convenience factor as well because people no longer have to worry about safeguarding their keys or being locked out late at night."

Schouw most recently developed the Iliad, a luxury boutique residential project on Homer Street, and he says nobody in his buildings should ever have their car broken into, which is Vancouver's most familiar security threat.

However, terrorism is on the mind of Warren Kimmel, the system's installer and CEO of Vancouver-based Fingerprint-IT, the North American headquarters of a family-owned company based in crime-plagued Capetown, South Africa, one of the toughest security markets in the world.

Kimmel, 35, immigrated to Canada two years ago and says Canadians are becoming more relaxed about biometrics since 9/11 and with the recent London terror attacks, although there are lingering "Big Brother" concerns that he describes as a perception problem.

The system does not store fingerprints but rather a mathematical algorithm based on each finger's unique loops and swirls. "All that is stored in the computer is a string of numbers. If you hacked it, you could take the numbers but you couldn't replicate the fingerprint."

His firm uses hardware developed by government contractors in Israel and France and tested to defeat TV-style capers such as photographs of prints moulded onto wax fingers. Fingerprint-IT provides the scanning and software support.

Users record details from one or two fingers on each hand, in case they are wearing a Band-Aid one day, or don't want to switch packages from one hand to another. Guests who need independent access can be added to the system for the duration of their stay.

The whole package for a building costs between $10,000 and $20,000, comparable to the cost of a good key fob system, depending on the number of scanners required, Kimmel said.

mkane@png.canwest.com

LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE UNLOCKING:

Vancouver-based Fingerprint-IT's biometric access system means never having to fumble for your keys.

- System tracks who entered the building and when.

- Fingerprints are not stored, instead a mathematical algorithm based on each finger's unique loops and swirls is used. Hackers thus cannot replicate the print.

- Users record details from one or two fingers on each hand, in case they're wearing a Band-Aid or carrying parcels.

- Guests who need independent access can be added to the system for the duration of their stay.

Ran with fact box "Let Your Fingers Do the Unlocking", which has been appended to the end of the story.

Soft-drink giant deploys biometrics

2005-08-01T19:23:00.000+02:00

Soft-drink giant deploys biometrics

Johannesburg-based Fingerprint Identification Technology (Fingerprint-it)
has announced that it has installed a biometric control and tracking
system for the continent's largest soft-drink company at its main canning
plant in Wadeville, SA.Fingerprint-it chief executive officer Bryan Kimmel
says the soft-drink vendor is now using fingerprint biometric readers and
Fingerprint-it software to track all activity of independent truckers
entering the canning site. Sagem supplied the hardware solution for the
system.The system, he says, manages the entire canning plant and warehouse
and verifies the identity of any third-party trucker entering the site,
tracking their time on the site, what they pick-up, who is responsible,
who verified it and when they left.This produces an "unforgeable",
time-stamped and lasting record of all activity on the site and
effectively reduces the opportunity for illegal access or on-site fraud
and crime to zero, Kimmel notes."In the past, truckers often arrived at
the site with old or forged orders, loaded trucks and left, before anyone
realised that there was a problem," he adds.Kimmel says that Finger-it is
particularly proud of this deal, as the client is an international giant -
the world's leading soft-drink vendor - with the ability to source
technology and solutions from all over the world."What really tickles me
though is that they did, in fact, choose a large international company to
begin with and recently had to throw out the system because it just wasn't
up to the job. This makes me very proud of the products and software we
provide."Fingerprint-it has also, in conjunction with Sagem hardware,
recently installed an access- and time-control system at Crown Mines.
"There is hardly a harsher environment for a biometrics system to operate
in than mining," Kimmel explains.The system that was implemented was
specifically designed for harsh African conditions, such as mining and
manufacturing, which require a robust design, he says.Kimmel predicts that
the biometrics industry will continue to expand in a world where security
keeps climbing higher on the list of priorities and argues that, as far as
security goes, biometrics is the only answer.Biometric solutions can be
used with many applications, including access control, time and
attendance, computer network access, Internet security and criminal
population management. Fingerprint-it is about to release South Africa's
first biometric credit authentication and payment system.

Posted: 7/28/2005 11:05:04 AM

New developments from Fingerprint Identification Technology

2005-07-31T17:23:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint-it has just released their new range of corporate readers. These connect directly to Wiegand, 485 and RS232.

We believe that these readers are in a class of their own. We have all seen issues with low cost readers and we have seen how this has hurt the industry.

This reader is the reader we have been waiting for to fill the gaps

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Biometrics and Access Control in South Africa - Fingerprints rule

2005-07-29T12:45:00.000+02:00

There is a new kid on the block. Fingerprint Identification Technology presents its new products. These can be found at

www.fingerprint-it.com/products.html

Invasion USA: More Illegal Alien Killers Busted

2005-07-25T17:48:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology http://www.fingerprint-it.com presents

by Jim Kouri, CPP

Invasion USA: More Illegal Alien Killers Busted

Saturday, July 23, 2005 01:17:54 PM

In less than a year, from September 1, 2004 through June 23, 2005, CBP Border Patrol agents have identified 102,024 illegal aliens involved in major crimes that include: 391 homicide suspects; 136 kidnapping suspects; 525 sexual assault suspects; 849 robbery suspects; 5,154 suspects for assaults of other types; and 10,394 suspects involved with narcotics.

For instance, US Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agents arrested a 31 year-old undocumented Mexican national wanted in connection to a homicide in Florida.

Border Patrol agents stopped a 1993 Aerostar van with Tennessee license plates east of Albuquerque New Mexico. After questioning, it was determined that the driver and the 10 passengers were illegally in the United States. They were all transported to the Albuquerque Border Patrol Station for processing.

Using biometric identification technology, it was determined that the driver, Alberto Hernandez-Ortiz, had an outstanding felony warrant in connection to a 2004 murder that occurred in Fort Myers, Florida in which the victim was stabbed to death. The suspect is currently in custody pending extradition to Florida. The remaining 10 illegal aliens were granted a voluntary return to Mexico.

The technology, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, enables CBP Border Patrol agents to search fingerprint databases simultaneously using the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) and the FBI fingerprint database. It provides rapid identification of individuals with outstanding criminal warrants by electronically comparing a live-scanned fingerprint with a nationwide database of biometrically indexed fingerprints.

In another case, CBP officers at the Paso Del Norte port of entry encountered 29-year-old Alex Daniel Vasquez-Fuentes as he entered the US as a pedestrian Friday morning. CBP officers asked for identification and he presented a birth certificate but no additional documents.

During questioning, Vasquez-Fuentes admitted that the certificate was not his and he was wanted in the Phoenix area. CBP officers obtained a ten-print digital image of his fingerprints and ran the data through the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System and discovered his true identity and that a warrant existed for his arrest. After confirming the warrant with authorities in Maricopa County, CBP officers turned Vasquez-Fuentes over to the El Paso Police Department.

In still another case, CBP officers at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry encountered 37-year-old Jose Guadalupe Reveles Barbosa as he entered the US as a pedestrian Friday afternoon. CBP believed he was attempting to live and work in the US illegally so they sent him to a secondary inspection area. During the secondary inspection, CBP officers performed a National Crime Information Center query on Reveles Barbosa and learned that he was being sought by authorities in Maricopa County for homicide/attempted second degree murder and interfering with judicial proceedings. He was taken into custody and turned over to the El Paso Police Department.

Sources: US Customs and Border Protection, US Border Patrol, National Association of Chiefs of Police
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others, and he's a columnist for TheConservativeVoice.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. Kouri holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice and master of arts in public administration and he's a board certified protection professional.

Make biometrics part of your security strategy

2005-07-21T13:03:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology http://www.fingerprint-it.com presents

Make biometrics part of your security strategy

July 21, 2005

Takeaway:
While biometric solutions have been available for two decades, the technology has seen only a very gradual acceptance. But biometrics has had time to evolve, and Mike Mullins says it's time to integrate some applications into your organization's security architecture. Find out what he suggests.

Biometrics technology is the stuff science-fiction movies are made of. For decades, we've glimpsed the future of iris scanning, voice recognition, and fingerprint scanning—all in the name of total security.

When biometrics first emerged for computing in 1984, the industry touted it as the cure for the common password. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, several computer hardware vendors tried to entice security-conscious organizations into changing their security authentication models from something you know (such as long and complex passwords) to something you are (such as finger, hand, or voice prints).

But let's face it: To date, the industry has seen only a very gradual acceptance—and often reluctance—to change the standard. New security technology is often hard to accept, particularly in its early stages. However, biometrics has had time to evolve, and it's time to consider integrating some specific biometric applications into your organization's security architecture.

Lock down physical access

If you work in a midsize to large company, ID cards are acceptable as an initial entry mechanism for your exterior controlled spaces. What about after someone has made it inside the building?

Biometrics that use hand geometry or fingerprint scans offer an affordable and scalable solution that can help put an end to that never-ending task of key changes, ID card programming, and door security combination changes. Users are human, and—more often than not—they won't hesitate to loan a key, hand over an ID card, or give out the combination to a door to help someone do his or her job.

It's often difficult to detect this type of misuse, and it can be tough to punish a person if the results of that misuse help the company. But by deploying a biometric entry system for interior sensitive spaces, you can greatly increase the security of those spaces. In addition, you can significantly decrease the change time between granting access and removing access without disturbing current operations.

How much time and money does your company spend changing locks, key codes, and ID cards after an employee no longer requires access? Do the math, and make a pitch based on your calculated savings—you'll win every time and increase your overall security posture.

Secure machines on the move

For most organizations, laptops are part of the computing environment. Some companies assign a laptop to a specific user; others assign laptops to departments, and a pool of users share them based on travel needs.

However, using passwords on laptops can pose problems. These issues include:

Forgotten passwords: Whenever a user forgets the laptop password, you must change the old password and create a new one before anyone else can use the machine.
Shared account: Instead of providing each user with an individual account on a laptop, some companies create a shared account with a simple or no password—and that means little or no protection for corporate data.
Locked accounts: Does this situation sound familiar? A user on a business trip working in a hotel room at 2 A.M. forgets the password and therefore requires after-hours support. This can be the most dangerous scenario because you're more likely to give out the admin password. That means you'll need to change every machine that uses that password immediately.

Using biometric technology, you can better protect your corporate data and your users by enabling them to access the machine without requiring them to remember a complicated password. Determine how much time you spend on laptop access, and you'll likely be able to justify any additional costs associated with biometric access.

Final thoughts

Biometrics can't cure all of your access authentication problems. If a user loses a laptop that contains sensitive data, that data is still in danger.

However, biometrics can simplify and increase your control over your organization's assets. Integrate biometrics within your organization, and gain greater control and flexibility over your security architecture.

Miss a column?

Check out the new Security Solutions Archive, and catch up on the most recent editions of Mike Mullins' column.

Worried about security issues? Who isn't? Automatically sign up for our free Security Solutions newsletter, delivered each Friday, and get hands-on advice for locking down your systems.

Mike Mullins has served as an assistant network administrator and a network security administrator for the U.S. Secret Service and the Defense Information Systems Agency. He is currently the director of operations for the Southern Theater Network Operations and Security Center.

Cash or plastic? How about fingerprint?

2005-07-20T13:07:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology http://www.fingerprint-it.com presents

Cash or plastic? How about fingerprint?
Biometric transactions are faster and more convenient -- and closer than you may think.
July 19, 2005: 2:09 PM EDT
By Grace Wong, CNN/Money staff writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Instead of keeping countless cards and pieces of information that verify your identification, soon there may be only one thing you need: yourself.

As identity theft has become the bane of consumers everywhere, technologies aimed at making transactions more secure are gaining ground. Such "biometric technologies" include iris scans, as well as those for fingerprints, palm, skin, voice and face patterns.

"In everyday life, the use of biometrics has been growing," said Philip Youn, a consultant at International Biometric Group.

The underlying strength of biometrics is that it uses patterns that are unique to each individual. Your fingerprints belong to you alone, and unlike that password to your online bank account, you can never lose it.

Where can you see it now?

Retail. Albertson's, the No. 2 supermarket chain, is one of hundreds of retailers testing biometric payment systems that let customers pay for purchases with a mere swipe of a finger.

It works like this: You register your fingerprint and your bank account with a service provider. The main ones are Pay By Touch and BioPay.

When you shop at a participating merchant, you just swipe your finger and the payment is automatically transferred from your bank to the merchant -- you don't have to hand over a card, sign a receipt or punch in a PIN.

Earlier this year, Albertson's joined the Pay By Touch network and is testing the service at four of its stores in the Portland, Oregon area.

"One thing we've heard repeatedly from our customers is that they would like to speed up the checkout process," Albertson's spokeswoman Shannon Bennett said. The feedback has been "very positive" she said, although the company hasn't announced any expansion plans for the program.

So far Pay By Touch has signed up between 100 and 200 merchants while rival BioPay's system includes nearly 60 participants.

"Biometric payments are the safest because no information is passed to the merchant," said Donita Prakash, vice president of marketing at BioPay.

And because you don't have to present your card at the point of sale, the transaction is faster, Pay By Touch marketing director Shannon Riordan said.

Another selling point: biometrics could offer are instant age verification for alcohol and tobacco sales.

Computers. Getting started with biometrics for your computer is as easy as picking up a product like the Biopod Password Manager produced by APC. The small fingerprint scanning device, which plugs into a USB port, stores all your passwords in your fingerprint.

When you go visit your favorite Web sites -- whether it be Amazon.com or your investment portfolio -- all you have to do is scan your fingerprint.

If you don't want to deal with external hardware, IBM, Toshiba and Compaq all sell notebook models already outfitted with a fingerprint reader.

The price of the Biopod is about $50 while laptops with the device built-in can sell for as little as $1,300.

Travel. If you travel internationally, then soon you'll be carrying some high-tech identification. The Department of State has launched a plan to introduce electronic passports that come with a chip that stores the usual personal information as well as a digital photo which enables biometric comparison through the use of facial recognition technology at international borders.

According to State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore, the electronic passports are still in test mode, but partial implementation is planned for the fall and full implementation in 2006.

Fundamentally flawed technology?

No biometric technology is 100 percent reliable, and privacy advocates are concerned with another problem -- centralized databases holding huge amounts of personal information.

"Whenever you're collecting uniquely identifiable information that you can't change, that's a very bad idea. It's a honeypot for hackers and attackers," Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said.

"Biometric technology would seem like it's a fantastic fix for identity theft, but once the ultimate identifier is stolen, there is no recourse for an individual to prove who they are," she said.

While victims of identity theft can get a new credit card number, change their address and even apply for a new Social Security number, they can't change their DNA.

Furthermore, there are those who just cannot use certain biometric systems, IBG's Youn said, explaining that some people's fingerprints are damaged, and others are born without readable prints -- although this is a small portion of the population.

Representatives from Pay By Touch and BioPay said when it comes to security, users of biometric payment services can relax because both companies don't store pictures of fingerprints. Instead, tiny measurements unique to each finger are recorded as an algorithm. If a hacker breaks into the system, all he or she would find is a number rather than a usable image of a fingerprint, they said.

Is a federal law that better protects personal data on the way? Click here.

Find this article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/19/pf/security_biometrics/index.htm?section=money_latest

2005-07-20T12:49:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology http://www.fingerprint-it.com Presents

http://www.2theadvocate.com

School Board assures parents about fingerprint policy
By DEBRA LEMOINEFlorida parishes bureau AMITE -- The Tangipahoa Parish School Board attempted to clarify concerns Tuesday night over fingerprint scanners at school cafeterias that some parents fear would make their children's personal information available to Internet hackers.
Technology Director Jake Ragusa said he wanted to dispel erroneous information circulating about the school district's biometric scanners.
The devices take impressions of fingerprints. The scanners were put into operation at two schools during the 2004-05 school year.
A group of parents whose children are students at Loranger Elementary School had complained about the scanners and rallied other parents to ask that the devices be removed.
No objecting parents attended the School Board meeting Tuesday.
The new software that will track school lunches, especially the records required by the federal government for the free and reduced-cost lunch program, cost the school system $92,000, Ragusa said.
The fingerprint scanners themselves are optional and cost $1,000 per school.
Ragusa said the scanners are designed to help reduce paperwork for cafeteria workers and to reduce the risk of students losing their cards or forgetting numbers, which was how the former software program identified students.
Some parents were concerned about how the fingerprints are stored in the computer system.
Ragusa said the computer saves a set of points based on the fingerprint and not the fingerprint itself.
Those points are turned into computer programming language and encrypted on the cafeteria computers' hard drives.
Ragusa also said the fingerprint images taken during the scans in the lunch line are saved in a computer's random access memory and not on the hard drive. "The instant the computer goes off, it (the fingerprint image) is gone," Ragusa said.
He added that information cannot be resurrected out of RAM memory, but erased data from a hard drive can be restored to a degree.
Many parents objected to the fingerprint program, saying any information deleted from a computer's memory can be brought back.
The scanners and the new cafeteria software were tried out at last year at the Loranger school and D.C. Reeves Elementary in Ponchatoula.
About 98 percent of the students at D.C. Reeves went through the scanning process.
In other business, the School Board voted to call an election Oct. 15 to ask voters in Hammond Consolidated School District No. 1 to renew a 10-year, 3-mill property tax to support an alternative education program in the system.
"American Idol" finalist Lindsey Cardinale, a 2003 Ponchatoula High School graduate, sang three patriotic songs to open the School Board meeting.
The board typically opens its meetings with a patriotic song, the Pledge of Allegiance and a patriotic reading. Click here to return to story:http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/072005/sub_fingerprint001.shtml

Biometric Media Weekly news - July 11, 2005

2005-07-19T19:19:00.000+02:00

Fingerprint Identification Technology http://www.fingerprint-it.com is proud
to post the Biometrics Consortium's

Biometric Media Weekly

==========================
ISSUE DATE: July 11, 2005
==========================

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Biometric Sales
-----------------

*>>> Regional Grocery Chair Lets Customers Pay by Biometric Scan
Farm Fresh has become the first retailer in Hampton Roads - and one of
the first in Virginia - to roll out a new payment system that lets
shoppers buy groceries with the touch of a finger. The Virginia
Beach-based company has installed biometric technology at checkout lines
in four of its Chesapeake stores. It has plans to put the technology in
all 38 Farm Fresh stores, including those on the Peninsula, by year's
end. The technology was developed by San Francisco company, Pay By Touch.
[Read more]
<http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-46426sy0jul07,0,490478.story?track=mostem
ailedlink>

*>>> Airport Security Goes Digital
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's second-biggest airline, is testing
fingerprint technology on boarding cards to make loading planes safer,
faster and cheaper. Lufthansa began a two-week test July 4, with 400
employee volunteers in simulated flight boardings using a Siemens AG
fingerprint reader,
[Read more]
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zlufthansa07jul07,0,2228582.
story?coll=sfla-business-headlines>

*>>> Airport starts using iris screener
Called CANPASS Air, the system takes a black-and-white photo of the
eyeand cross-references the iris with an Ottawa database in about 20
seconds. The program already services seven cities, including Calgary,
Canada.
[Read more] <http://www.fftimes.com/index.php/17/2005-07-07/21901>**

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Information
-----------

*>>> Biometric Information Directory Sold to Grey House Publishing
The Biometric Digest announced it has sold its "Biometric Information
Directory" to Grey House Publishing located in Millerton, New York.
Bill Rogers, publisher of the Biometric Information Directory said, "The
resources of Grey House Publishing will greatly expand biometric
information to both the business community and consumers alike. We are
pleased to have found a company with a long history of publishing an
extensive array of directories focusing on security and identification
information."

*>>> Biometric Consortium ListServ Changes
The Biometric Consortium announced a new web-based interactive Biometric
Consortium Bulletin Board (BCBB) and has been getting some complaints in
the process. You may join the BCBB at http://www.bcbb.biometrics.org.
The BCBB is replacing the existing Biometric Consortium Electronic
Discussion Group (LISTSERV) after a transition period. During the
transition period, both communications venues will be available. The
duration of the transition period will be determined by operational
issues. They do not expect the existing LISTSERV to be available after
September 2005.
[Read more] <http://www.biometrics.org/html/bcbb.htm>

*>>> Terrorist Bombing in London
Another shoe has dropped - this time in London. Such attacks were
certain to occur there, and they are certain to occur in the US. A
central factor underlying the proposal for a Universal Biometric ID
(UBID) system has been the fact that the more technologically advanced
countries are particularly vulnerable to the types of attacks that
terrorists have no reluctance about performing.
[Read more] <http://www.biometricdigest.blogspot.com/>

*>>> BlueBear Network Signs Distributor for IndiaBlueBear Network
International, Inc. (Pink Sheets:BLBR) announced SKG Softnet will present
BlueBear's Integrated Digital Law Enforcement (IDLE) product and the
underlying BlueBear Network technology to courts, law enforcement and other
agencies within the justice community in India.
[Read more] <http://au.biz.yahoo.com/050707/21/59hu.html>

*>>> ComnetiX aims for acquisitions, profitability after narrowing Q3
loss
Biometrics equipment maker ComnetiX Inc. said it will continue to hunt
for acquisitions to grow its business after cutting its losses in half
in the latest quarter and posting higher sales. The Toronto biometric
identification equipment company also said it is aiming to turn a profit
in the next two to three quarters. [Read more]
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050707/ca_pr_on_tc/comnet
ix_2>

*>>> Shares of Biometric, Security Firms Jump
Investors jumped to buy shares of companies that sell biometric
technology, video surveillance and other security services after
Thursday's bombings in London.
[Read more]
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050707/ap_on_bi_ge/explosions
_security_stocks_6>

*>>> IO-key International Receives 'Product of the Year' Award for
Second Consecutive Year
BIO-key International, Inc., a leader in finger-based biometric
identification and wireless public safety solutions, announced today
that Technology Marketing Corporation (TMCR)'s BiometriTech magazine
online ) has named BIO-key's True User Identification as a recipient of
their 2004 Product of the Year Award.
[Read more] <http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050707/cgth011.html?.v=17>

*>>> Germany moves forward with e-passports
Germany is moving forward on introducing biometric ID systems. The
German Parliament today approved an electronic passport plan to begin
Nov. 1, with Lufthansa Airlines and Siemens AG of Munich initiating a
test in which passengers' thumbprints will be used to verify identity
before boarding a plane.
Germany will be the first European country to introduce integrated
circuit chips containing personal identifying information and a digital
facial,
[Read more] <http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36340-1.html>

*>>> 'Hello, fingerprint, please'*
In an effort to check an increase in crimes committed by foreigners, the
government is moving toward introducing compulsory fingerprinting for
foreigners entering and leaving Japan -- a move that is expected to draw
fire from foreign residents in Japan and possibly lead to conflicts with
some foreign governments.
[Read more]
<http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20050709a1.htm>**

=============================

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The Biometric Digest publishes a monthly newsletter with in-depth
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=============================

Contracts & Agreements
----------------------

>>> Zvetco Biometrics to Offer Advanced Multi-Factor Authentication
Fingerprint authentication hardware and software developer Zvetco
Biometrics announced a partnership with Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd.,
joining the Aladdin eToken Solution Partner Program.
[Read more] <http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050706/new006.html?.v=19>

*>>> Liska Biometry Executes Strategic MOU with Saudi Minerva to
Explore Biometrically Enabled ID Management Systems Offerings
Liska Biometry a biometrics solutions provider, announced the signing of
a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Saudi Minerva,
Company. Ltd. of Saudi Arabia, one of the leading security systems
integrators in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
[Read more] <http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050706/65444.html?.v=1>

---------------------------------------------------------

Conferences & Seminars
----------------------

*>>> Year's Conference Schedule Available
Subscribers to the */Biometric Information Directory/* have a full
year's conference available at their fingertips. The schedule is updated
as dates change and are scheduled. For a demonstration of the
Biometric Information Directory,
<http://www.biometricinfodirectory.com>.

-------------------------

*>>> ASIS International 2005
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida USA
Start Date: 9/12/05 End Date: 9/15/05
http://www.asisonline.org/education/programs/noframe/2005seminar/default.htm
l

*>>> Biometric Consortium Conference BC2005
Hyatt Regency Crystal City
Arlington, VA USA
Start Date: 9/19/05 End Date: 9/21/05
http://www.biometrics.org

>>> Biometrics 2005
Conference: 19-21 October 2005
Exhibition: 20-21 October 2005
Westminster, London, UK
Learn from case studies, market analysis and expert opinion about
technological developments and new trials in the use of biometrics for
citizen identification, transactions, surveillance, physical access
control and logical access control for government and commercial
applications.

The comprehensive conference program is supplemented by a large
exhibition area (free to visitors) housing over 70 developers and
suppliers of biometric systems, system integrators and suppliers of
smartcard and computer security services and products.

For further details contact:
Lyn Aitken, Biometrics 2005 Conference Secretariat
Tel: +44 (0) 1367 718 500
Fax: +44 (0) 1367 718 300
Email: biometrics2005@elsevier.com
Web:
http://www.biometrics2005.com <http://www.biometrics2005.com/>

*>>> The Fall 2005 BIOMETRICS SUMMIT:

Implementing Technologies for Physical Security and Identity Management
In Government And Business
********************
November 1-2, 2005, New York City

For more information, or to opt-in to receive program announcements:

----------------------------------

Call: 888-362-7400, or, 773-695-9400, x1
Email: info@aliconferences.com
Online: http://www.aliconferences.com/conferences.htm

- - - - -
Bill Rogers, Publisher
Biometric Digest