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| March 17, 2008
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Dear readers,
The Biometrics Info provides you with the latest news on biometrics, smartcards and network security. We provide you with this free service 2 or 3 times a week depending on the news available.
We provide a RSS feed for daily use. During the week all the news will be available through the RSS feed with a weekly summary on friday through the Biometrics Info e-zine.
We carefully selected the newsarticles for this Biometrics Info and we hope you appreciate this edition.
Enjoy reading.
Reinier M. van der Drift
BioXS
English
The Biometric Cataloging of Americans at Home
This is the rhetoric being used to entice U.S. citizens to voluntarily provide their biometric information to the U.S. government.
The program, called "clear," is being installed at airports around the country now. For a little background on this, view a post at this website from September 2005, called Securitizing the Global Norm of Identity: Biometric Technologies in Domestic and Foreign Policy.
In Fallujah, the cataloging of human beings has been involuntary since the U.S. siege of that city in November 2004. Having retina scans, fingerprinting and bar-code IDs is mandatory there for Iraqis.
But now, in the "homeland" of the United States, you too can join the happy club of those giving their biometric data to the federal government. Just bring two forms of government issued identification to your local Clear airport or various downtown location, enroll, pay the $128 fee, wait 2-3 weeks, and then if you are accepted, step up to your nearest scanner, and try not to blink as your retina is scanned.
These kiosks are planned for airports in New York, Denver, Oakland, and many others.
GlobalResearch
Date: 2008-03-13 |
Korean National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NISI) Purchases Animetrics 2D to 3D Facial Biometrics Products
Animetrics, a leading developer of 2D to 3D imaging for facial biometric systems, today announced that the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NISI), the "CSI" of the Republic of Korea, has purchased Animetrics' Forensica™ and Animetrics90 FaceWatch facial recognition biometric products. The opportunity to have a state of the art forensic investigation agency explore the capabilities of Animertrics is both an honor and a testimony to the applications our technologies are now enabling
Seoul, South Korea (PRWEB) March 13, 2008 -- Animetrics, a leading developer of 2D to 3D imaging for facial biometric systems, today announced that the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NISI), the "CSI" of the Republic of Korea, has purchased Animetrics' Forensica™ and Animetrics90 FaceWatch facial recognition biometric products.
Should pupils pay for lunch with fingerprints?
Fingerprinting is becoming commonplace among schools in Sussex. But many parents and campaigners have grave concerns about the routine collection of such sensitive data with the organisation Leave Them Kids Alone, which campaigns against fingerprinting in schools, saying: "If a fingerprint is stolen, your child may have problems proving who they are for the rest of their life."
Schoolchildren across Sussex are using their fingerprints to borrow books, pay for lunch and register for classes. Fingerprints, unlike library cards, cannot be lost or stolen.
Parents can see what their children are eating for lunch and can be immediately alerted if their child fails to show for classes.
The Argus
Date: 2008-03-13 |
EU plans IT-driven tools to bring its border management into the 21st century
European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, European Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security spoke yesterday about 'Providing Europe with the tools to bring its border management into the 21st century at the Ministerial Conference on the Challenges of the EU External Border Management inBrdo (Slovenia).
This is what he said:
"Today we have had a long and interesting discussion on the three proposals contained in the border package that the Commission adopted on 13 February 2008.
The three proposals are the following:
PublicTechnology
Date: 2008-03-13 |
Societe Generale Disaster Puts Risk Management Up Front
We haven't heard the last of the trading scandal that cost Société Générale about $7.5 billion, as U.K. regulators last week urged banks to tighten their defenses against unauthorized trading, and French authorities detained a second trader in relation to the case. For IT teams, the question that shouldn't go away is whether they have the risk management practices in place to prevent similar insider problems.
The Financial Services Authority, which regulates U.K. financial markets, last week urged banks to improve their controls. The FSA said companies should review their access controls and implement practices such as making sure duties and system-access are segregated enough to limit potential for malicious activity by one unauthorized user. Traders shouldn't have system access beyond their mandates, FSA said, and companies should make sure front-office employees aren't logging on from back-office computers. The FSA encourages separating front-office staff from back-office functions.
Informationweek
Date: 2008-03-16 |
AuthenTec Files Suit Against Rival Atrua
AuthenTec Inc., a fingerprint technology provider, said Friday it filed a patent-infringement lawsuit in California for unspecified damages against rival Atrua Technologies Inc.
AuthenTec (nasdaq: AUTH - news - people ) alleges Atrua's products infringe on multiple AuthenTec patents covering fingerprint sensor technologies. The company said it has more than 60 U.S. patents filed or pending.
"We filed this patent infringement suit in order to protect one of our most valuable assets, our intellectual property," AuthenTec Vice President and General Counsel Frederick Jorgenson said in the statement.
Atrua CEO Anthony Gioeli said in an interview that the lawsuit was frivolous.
"This lawsuit is completely without merit," Gioeli said, reading from a prepared statement. "We do not infringe on AuthenTec's or anyone else's patents. We will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter."
A spokeswoman for AuthenTec would not elaborate further on the allegations in the suit, which was filed Wednesday.
Airlines blast plan to fingerprint foreign fliers
WASHINGTON — Airlines are protesting a government plan that would require them to take fingerprints of foreign travelers as they fly out of the USA, saying it could create massive lines at airport check-in counters.
Congress has required that the 33 million foreigners a year coming into U.S. airports be fingerprinted when they arrive and leave the country but did not specify who should take the prints. The Homeland Security Department, which currently fingerprints foreigners coming into U.S. airports, wants airlines to be responsible for taking fingerprints as these travelers leave. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged the White House to kill the plan. "This is a government function, not to be outsourced to the private sector," said Ken Dunlap, security chief for IATA North America. The association represents 240 airlines worldwide.
USA Today
Date: 2008-03-17 |
Smartcard technology reaps security benefits
Two and a half years ago, Nikk Gilbert, head of security architecture at a multinational transport and energy firm, had the dream that staff could swipe a smartcard to enter a building, use that same card to pay for coffee in the canteen, then log on to their laptops by inserting the card into a reader, all without needing a password written on a Post-it note. Now his dream is reality at the firm's transport headquarters in France, which is home to 1,500 employees.
Teaming up with public key infrastructure (PKI) products and services company Open Trust, Gilbert put together a PKI, single sign-on (SSO) smartcard project.
"The initial concept was to provide the organisation with strong authentication. We started talking about how people would not need to have so many passwords, how security would be much better. The whole idea of having a smart card instead of 15 complex passwords was quite easy to sell," Gilbert says.
ComputerWeekly.com
Date: 2008-03-17 |
Biometrics and “Return On Investment”
At this time of tight budgets, the mantra of business is “Return On Investment!” With few exceptions, expenditures are measured against the bottom line. Outlays for capital expenses are strictly evaluated in terms of profitability and the total cost of ownership. The era of purchasing new gadgets due to their “whiz-bang” factor is long gone. How can biometrics provide the sought after “R.O.I.” in this environment?
A biometric hand reader prevents a felon from entering your office or warehouse. Can this preventive measure be assigned a dollar amount? A fingerprint scan stops an unauthorized person from gaining access to your computer system. Can a value be determined?
Money Advice Guide
Date: 2008-03-17 |
'Real ID' Program Mandates Smarter State IDs
It's known as the "Real ID" program. It's part of a nationwide effort to help prevent terrorism and reduce fraud.
"I think all parties involved are supportive of the goal of Real ID, which is to make sure that we have secure documents and authenticate the individual who holds that document," said Patricia McCormick with Minnesota's Department of Driver and Vehicle Services.
The program basically calls on states to step their level of verification of who holds the identification, increasing security on our driver's licenses and state ID cards.
"We would insure that the person is who they say they are," said McCormick.
Real IDs would be necessary to do things like board planes and enter federal buildings. They will be required by the end of 2014. Before then, Minnesota's Department of Driver and Vehicle Services needs $20 million of new technology to meet federal requirements governing the online sharing of information with different state and national agencies.
Is Biometrics the next big thing?
For many of us that have to prove some detail of who we are to a computer, a username and password is about as bearable as it can get.
Now we also have a slew of vendors that want us to rather replace this fact of some detail that we know (and hopefully remember) with something we physically are - a biometric component like a fingerprint, retina scan or voice print.
This all sounds like super spy or sci-fi stuff, but the reality is that these controls have reached a level of maturity that will make many of them enterprise-ready and cost-effective to deploy.
Still, there are some details to consider within the process of deploying a biometric solution. The fact is within a manual labour environment we will not be able to acquire a reasonable thumbprint all of the time, so a hand geometry scanner could be a more suitable solution. Moreover, the placement of such a device will be key to its ongoing success. Having a thumbprint reader at a high traffic area, for example in front of a lift shaft, may not be ideal, so the design of such solutions within the physical access control arena requires specialised resources....
Francais
JetFlash 220 Fingerprint - 8 Go
a protection des données de cette clé USB est au bout de votre doigt
Une capacité de 8 Go, une protection par empreintes digitales, un cryptage AES 256 bits : c’est une clé USB de parano !
Spécialisé dans le domaine de la mémoire sous toutes ses formes, Transcend qui compte déjà une gamme assez riche de clés USB, vient de l'enrichir avec un modèle fort intéressant : la JetFlash 220 Fingerprint. Disponible en 2, en 4 et 8 en Go, cette clé dispose d'un lecteur d'empreintes digitales pour protéger les données qui y sont stockées. Et pour garantir une protection maximale, elle fait également appel à un cryptage AES sur 256 bits des données.
Nederlands
Google schroeft beveiliging Apps op
Deze mogelijkheid wordt beschikbaar voor gebruikers van de Google Apps Premier Edition. Arcot stelt daarvoor zijn authenticatieservice A-OK On-Demand beschikbaar.
Doorgaans krijgen Google Apps-gebruikers toegang tot hun e-mail, kalender en groupware met behulp van een gebruikersnaam en wachtwoord. Het A-OK-product voegt hier een tweede vorm van authenticatie aan toe. Er wordt gebruik gemaakt van een versleuteld bestand dat is opgeslagen op de computer van de gebruiker en dienst doet als een softwarematige smartcard of token.
De extra beveiliging kan worden ingeschakeld via de beheerconsole van Google. Als de gebruiker vervolgens inlogt, moet hij of zij enkele vragen beantwoorden waarna de software wordt gedownload. Als de gebruiker daarna met een andere computer inlogt, schotelt A-OK enkele eerder gestelde vragen voor.
WebWereld
Date: 2008-03-14 |
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