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| April 20, 2006
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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
BearingPoint launches “technology showroom” for secure ID technologies
New facility offers hands-on experience with next generation biometrics, card technologies, and systems to meet new government security initiatives, including HSPD-12. BearingPoint launches “technology showroom” for secure ID technologies.
BearingPoint has opened a new "technology showroom" in Washington, DC to display new secure ID technologies.
The new Global Security Identity Management Center will allow government agencies and enterprise customers to see, touch and experience live examples of many new identity management systems and solutions that can allow organizations to meet.
Consultant News
Date: 2006-04-14 |
MXI Security's Stealth MXP with UPEK's fingerprint authentication solution
UPEK(R), Inc., the leading brand for fingerprint authentication solutions, today announced that its biometric technology has been used by MXI Security(TM) in its new MXP product family. MXI Security's new offering combines UPEK's biometric technology with digital credentials and passwords to provide three factor authentication designed to combine the power of secure storage with digital identity, cryptography, and strong authentication services. UPEK's fingerprint authentication solution verifies users to protect digital assets and provide authorized users with a convenient way to access local and network data.
France begins distribution of e-passports
LONDON — France has begun distributing e-passports, ending a dispute that had caused problems for some French citizens wishing to travel to the United States, according to an Agence France Presse report.
The e-passports are being issued in the Hauts-de-Seine department west of Paris, and will be rolled out across the country by the end of June, ahead of a European Union deadline of Aug. 28, according to the AFP report.
The e-passports are fitted with an integrated circuit that includes biometric data. The report did not disclose the manufacturer of the chip or how it is programmed, or made machine- and human readable.
No2ID plans passport protest to scupper ID cards
No2ID is calling for mass passport renewals next month to create a spike in the system that shows the government how unhappy people are with its plans to have everyone clocked in an identity database. Guy Herbert, general secretary of No2ID, said: "If everyone renews their passport now, that inconveniences their plans to get everyone on the register." The May renewal date is also good for people who want to delay having the government store their fingerprints, mugshots and eye-scans.
Biometric passports of a sort are being rolled out already in time for an August switch over. From then on all passports issued will include chips that store a scanned photograph of their holder. Passports issued after 29 October will have to include photo-chips if they are to get their owners through US customs without a visa (as is possible for people from countries included in its visa-waver programme).
The Register
Date: 2006-04-20 |
Fingerprinting made mandatory for real estate agents in Florida
Want to get your real estate license? Be prepared to have your fingerprints taken -- electronically.
Beginning July 1, Florida law will require mandatory electronic fingerprinting for applicants for a real estate sales associate or broker's license.
According to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), electronic fingerprinting benefits applicants by reducing the likelihood of illegible fingerprints or missing information on the fingerprint card.
Sun-Sentinel
Date: 2006-04-17 |
Fujitsu Resurrects The Sub-Notebook
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Fujitsu previewed a new notebook line, the LifeBook Q Series, which sports a larger display and other features the company says is a breakthrough for portable computers in its class. So-called sub-notebook portables have proved to be a more of a niche product than their makers had hoped. "The category has done badly because the products have been too compromised," Roger Kay, analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, told internetnews.com. "But now we're seeing technology advances to make them more usable."
Internetnews
Date: 2006-04-19 |
UK boards have little faith in their firms’ security
A doubting 38% of the 293 senior managers surveyed by nCircle expect their firms to suffer a network attack this year and 74% complacently think that security issues are a fact of business life.
“Clearly many current security strategies are not winning the war, either in the fight against cybercrime or to win the confidence of their senior managers,” says Kevin Lamb, EMEA operations director at nCircle. Sky-rise security budgets – up 15% last year according to Infonetics research – have had little impact on their views. Despite the investment, 68% of the managers don’t feel any more confident in network security this year than before.
ComputerWeekly
Date: 2006-04-20 |
Atiq Raza Joins as Chairman of the Board of the Directors of Validity Sensors; Renowned Semiconductor Industry Veteran Brings Management And Strategic Experience To Innovative Semiconductor Start-Up
FOSTER CITY, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- April 20, 2006 -- Validity Sensors -- a leading developer of biometric fingerprint sensors -- today announced the appointment of Mr. Atiq Raza as the Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr. Raza is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Raza Microelectronics Inc. Previously Mr. Raza was President and Chief Operating Officer of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). He became a key member of AMD's top management team after AMD acquired NexGen, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer.
Brother, can you spare a Turkish lira?
There's nothing like standing on a street corner in Istanbul and having the ATM screen reply repeatedly, "Your bank declines this transaction."
So much for Bank of America and the global economy. That bland statement was the only response in repeated efforts to get money, although at one point, one machine doled out a 20-note New Turkish Lira, before clamming up again.
Fortunately, my wife's Wachovia ATM card worked. Back in the states, my local BOA ATM informed me that my card was no longer valid. The next day a not-so-quick call to the BOA empire yielded someone in fraud detection who said BOA automatically puts a hold on cards when they are used abroad. "You should have called us and told us you were going overseas," was the advice. "You're kidding."
E-Passports Pass Test
The Department of Homeland Security announced headway in testing and development of biometric technologies to prevent fraud and theft of international travel documents. An October deadline looms for a requirement that Visa waiver travelers produce e-Passports upon entering the United States, and DHS said Monday that initial testing has been successful.
Critics continue to raise security concerns since the government has not released specific information about the systems, but DHS maintains that the e-Passport system is safe.
Informationweek
Date: 2006-04-19 |
Infosecurity preview: Trying too much, too young
Many firms face the demands of achieving greater returns from technology while decreasing IT spend, improving security and controls, and meeting compliance requirements.
In response, identity and access management programmes enable process improvements in the ways in which the identities of customers, staff and suppliers are managed. But they are prone to failure for two reasons – they try to do too much, too young.
Computerweekly
Date: 2006-04-19 |
Rfid-enabled travel cards pose privacy threats
By 2008, if officials at the Department of Homeland Security are to be believed, travelers to Canada and Mexico will use wallet-size identity cards tagged with RFID tags. A senior official at the department disclosed this while speaking at a smart card conference in Arlington. Already, the department operates the biometrics program for visitors to the United States.
This has raised the hackles of privacy activists who are not wrong in saying that this was the traveler's data stored in the tag could be read by rogue RFID readers in any public place while in transit.
RFID Gazette
Date: 2006-04-19 |
Firms: Biometrics are really safer
When Kim Malinger shops, she'd rather give retailers plastic than her finger. For the North Aurora resident, keeping her personal identity personal takes priority over the convenience of shopping with biometrics – the automated recognition of human traits. Such programs are popping up locally in grocery stores and school cafeterias. In January, the San Francisco-based company Pay By Touch installed biometric scanners in 180 Jewel-Osco stores throughout the Chicagoland area, including Kane County.
The company is making an effort to convince skeptical consumers such as Malinger that biometrics are safer than the credit cards and checks they use.
Kane County Chronicle
Date: 2006-04-19 |
First e-passports in Ireland
The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, announced this week that the government will bring in new legislation this year allowing for the introduction of biometric passports. Mr Ahern also stated that Ireland has taken delivery of a sample number of e-passports containing digital image. The new passport legislation will introduce a series of new offences relating to travelling on a false Irish passport and will provide for the regulation and issuance of passports, including the storage and use of biometric data collected by the Passport Office. The new ePassports, which contain a digital facial image, are presently undergoing independent testing in the Netherlands. Next week, the new passports will also be tested in US State facilities in Virginia to ensure they meet US specifications.
World's First Commercial Roll Out of Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology Simplifies Travel for Consumers
Espoo, Finland - Nokia, Royal Philips Electronics, Vodafone and the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), the regional public transport authority for the Region Frankfurt Rhine-Main in Germany, have announced that following a successful ten-month field trial, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology will be deployed in a commercial environment. Nokia 3220 mobile phones with integrated NFC technology can now be used as electronic bus tickets and act as loyalty cards for discounts at local retail outlets and attractions. Everyone of the approximately 95.000 residents in the city of Hanau can now enjoy the ease and convenience of NFC for mobile ticketing in public transportation, simply with the swipe of their compatible phones.
Infosecurity preview: Protect your assets
Information security has become a top priority for government and business, from the largest corporate to the smallest enterprise. Valuable data has become concentrated as never before, making it a target for criminals and hackers. The theft of sensitive data can cause a loss of confidence in governments, a decrease in the value of companies, a failure to comply with legislation, or financial losses from fraud.
ComputerWeekly
Date: 2006-04-19 |
Identity management practices critical to improve security and compliance
Identity and access management is critical to security and compliance, according to a recently commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of BT’s business continuity, security and governance practice. The research questioned respondents in various types and sizes of organisations in eight countries across Europe and the US on security and identity management practices. The results indicate that Identity Management is seen as critical to protect the organisation’s information assets and to meet regulatory compliance or privacy obligations.
The survey shows that Identity Management investment for 2005 was quite strong: 38 percent of organizations responding had management budgets at or over €250,000 and 12 percent of budgets were over € 1million. Moreover, 41 percent of respondents expect Identity Management budgets to increase in the next three years while, only six percent expect to see them decrease.
Airports leery on traveler registry
Only one of the USA's busiest airports has signed up for a much-vaunted program to speed travelers through checkpoints, while at least a half-dozen others are balking at an idea that they say won't work. The lack of sign-ups could threaten the Registered Traveler program, pushed by Congress for years as a way to speed up post-9/11 security lines by giving minimal inspections to air travelers who pass a background check. "The program is far less appealing and less effective if only a handful of airports offer it," said Chicago O'Hare International Airport spokeswoman Wendy Abrams.
USA Today
Date: 2006-04-19 |
NEW BIOMETRIC FACE AND SIGNATURE SOFTWARE PREVENTS FRAUD
NEW YORK, April 18, 2006 – Verifying an individual’s identity by matching facial images and signatures against archived biometric information is central to National Identity Security Inc.’s (NIS, www.naidse.com) new suite of software products. The suite includes the National Identity Personal Profile (NIPP Secure™), which authenticates and validates the individual, not the credit card or information used to identify the person.
NIPP Secure guarantees a customer’s identity will never be stolen. The identity authentication system protects individuals and companies from identity theft, fraud and data corruption both online and at point-of-sale transactions.
Will our hi-tech security ways signal the death of the signature?
(Western Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Advances in modern technology could soon signal the end for the humble signature, according to experts. From politicians signing treaties to the shoppers buying bread, signatures have for centuries provided a practical purpose of proving an identity, while also expressing individual creativity. But in recent years, the demise of letter writing combined with the need for more rigorous and reliable security systems has led to a drive for more secure forms of identification.
Deutsch
EU-Datenschutzbeauftragter warnt vor Überbewertung der Biometrie
Brüssel - Vor zu hohen Erwartungen in neue EU-Personaldokumente mit biometrischen Daten hat der EU-Datenschutzbeauftragte Peter Hustinx gewarnt. Die Biometrie werde "oft überschätzt", die Technik sei "noch nicht perfekt", sagte Hustinx am Mittwoch in Brüssel. Er sei nicht grundsätzliche gegen den Einsatz biometrischer Daten, die EU müsse aber auch entsprechende Sicherheitsstandards entwicklen. "Ich bin etwas beunruhigt von dem Husch-Pfusch-Ansatz, den der (EU-Minister-)Rat verfolgt."
De Standard
Date: 2006-04-20 |
Nederlands
Overheid VS weigert te patchen; stopt incident in doofpot
Het biometrische toegangscontrole systeem wat op Amerikaanse luchthavens wordt gebruikt, is vorig jaar augustus door een worm geinfecteerd omdat ambtenaren bewust een security patch niet installeerde. De uitbraak van de Zotob worm zorgde op 18 augustus voor lange wachtrijen op de luchthavens van onder andere Los Angeles, San Francisco en Miami omdat alle reizigers met de hand gecontroleerd moesten worden. In eerste instantie werd toegegeven dat het om een virus ging, maar dat verhaal werd herroepen, en een falend systeem zou de oorzaak van het incident zijn geweest. Dankzij de "Freedom of Information" wetgeving zijn nu gedeeltes van twee rapporten naar buiten gekomen waarin duidelijk wordt dat het weldegelijk om een virusbesmetting ging, en dat men met man en macht probeerde om honderden Windows machines, die voor het US-VISIT programma gebruikt worden, te patchen.
Security.nl
Date: 2006-04-14 |
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