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| April 28, 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
Substantial profit made on passports
The Department of Foreign Affairs makes a substantial profit each year from issuing passports, the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee has been told.
Fianna Fáil's Deputy Seán Fleming said there were grounds for reducing the cost of passports, as they were so profitable. The Secretary General of the Department, Dermot Gallagher, said the passport division cost about €10 million a year to run, not counting office rents. But last year 670,000 passports were sold, bringing in about €39 million, while in the previous year the 600,000 passports sold brought in about €30 million.
Lenel introduces OnGuard 2006, next generation security platform
Lenel has released the latest version of its OnGuard security platform that delivers a flexible single source security solution including digital audio content analysis, an elevator and floor access solution, physical and logical access controls using biometric data, a video matrix display, and support for the new TWIC U.S. government identification standard.
SecureID News
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Thought-based biometrics system underway?
Seems kind of old school if your brain interface doesn't provide extra-sensory enhancement or integration to robotic limbs, but researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada are working on a system for thought-based biometrics by scanning and interpreting each individual's unique brain-wave signatures that occur when they think of a certain thought or can identify patterns uniquely -- kind of like that Peter Pan pixie dust thing, except in this case you get granted access to your box. For a variety of reasons the system isn't without its doubts and detractors, and will probably continue to have them so long as you have to wear an EEG cap on your scalp to get a reading -- though according to UCLA professor and BCI expert Jacques Vidal, rocking that headgear's the least of this system's problems.
New biometric lockers for Portland
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Government eliminated lockers at airports around the country. They were simply too tempting a target for terrorists. With no place to store their carry-on bags before a flight, passengers have had to lug them around airports. Now there is a glimmer of hope. Luggage lockers are making a comeback at select airports around the country.
Smarte Carte, Inc. has installed biometric-sensitive lockers at Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon. To rent a locker, for $2 per hour or $8 per day, follow a series of touch-screen prompts that include two fingerprint scans.
When you’re ready to retrieve your luggage, another scan is taken and matched with the first. Then, the locker opens. The process eliminates metal keys entirely, however all lockers and their contents are subject to random searches by airport security.
Cheapflights.com
Date: 2006-04-27 |
EU votes through visa price hike plan
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The price of a visa for the EU's borderless Schengen zone is to go up from €35 to €60 next year due to higher costs for the so-called SIS II border control system which uses biometric data, such as fingerprint and DNA identification. EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday (27 April) said the increase from today's €35 for transits and stays of up to three months will be implemented from the beginning of next year. "We do want to have biometric visa and they will cost a bit more," EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini told reporters in Luxembourg.
EUobserver
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Sagem Défense Sécurité Provides Finnish Police With Biometric System
PARIS -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/27/2006 -- Sagem Défense Sécurité signed a contract on April 6 with the Finnish police to supply a new-generation AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System). With this contract, which was open to international bids, the Finnish police renew its confidence in Sagem Défense Sécurité by replacing its current system with one that contains the latest technological advances. Apart from the standard AFIS police services (i.e. identifying criminals with latents, palmprints and fingerprints), the new system can also be used when issuing visas, passports and asylum ID.
The new system will acquire and process high-resolution images (1000 dpi) to ensure more reliable and accurate information.
As part of the new contract, Sagem Défense Sécurité will supply Finnish police forces with and deploy high-resolution fingerprint and palmprint capture stations and latest-generation laboratory stations.
MarketWire
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Unisys Study: Trust Crucial For Biometrics
Nearly 70 percent of consumers worldwide support using biometrics technologies such as fingerprints or voice recognition administered by a trusted organization (e.g., a bank, healthcare provider or government organization) as a way to verify an individual’s identity, according to “new global research” from Unisys Corporation.Unisys Corporation is a vendor of biometric technologies.
In what Unisys officials are calling “the first worldwide survey of its kind to study consumer security preferences,” the Unisys research also “found that 66 percent of consumers worldwide also favored biometrics as the ideal method to combat fraud and identity theft as compared to other methods such as smart cards and tokens.”
Fighting fraud
New anti-fraud plans have been announced to protect personal details.The new Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has published plans for a major programme of anti-fraud projects aimed at giving individuals a new level of protection against identity theft.
Among the agency’s measures to be implemented over the next ten years as it works to set up the National Identity Scheme, are plans to enhance the security of the British passport and issuing process using enhanced background checks and interviews for first-time adult applicants.
Other measures include biometric ePassports set to be introduced in 2006/2007 containing a facial biometric stored on the chip, which may be joined by a second biometric (fingertips) in the future, and keeps in line with international moves to incorporate biometrics in travel documents.
Contractors: Homeland’s TWIC database strategy flawed
Several federal contractors raised objections today to an apparent sole source contract that the Homeland Security Department is planning to award for managing the chief database for the upcoming Transportation Worker Identification Credential. The department’s Transportation Security Administration is preparing to contract directly with the American Association of Airport Executives to operate the identity management system for the TWIC, according to an internal TSA document obtained by Washington Technology and confirmed by industry sources close to the department. The identity management system is the central database for the credentialing program.
“This appears to be a noncompetitive award of the technology components that could be provided by industry,” Walter Hamilton, vice president of Saflink Corp., Bellevue, Wash. and chairman of the International Biometric Industry Association, said in an interview today. The value of the contract with the airport executives group was not immediately available. Estimates for the entire TWIC program run as high as $1.2 billion.
Washington Technology
Date: 2006-04-26 |
Visas to capture biometrics by 2008
Plans for biometric visas will move ahead towards the end of the summer once proposals are signed off by ministers and approved by Parliament.
Under the government’s five-year immigration and asylum strategy, all visa applications will include the capture of digital photograph and fingerprint information, from 2008.
UK Visas, a joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) agency, is inviting expressions of interest from potential suppliers of biometric recording and verification equipment by May. The deal is expected to be worth £5m-£10m, but the full procurement will only start once the scheme receives formal parliamentary approval.
Thales To Provide Imprimerie Nationale With Integrated Electronic Passport
The French Ministry of the Interior and Regional Development (MIAT) has appointed the Imprimerie Nationale (government printing office) to produce the country’s first personalised biometric passports.
As part of this agreement, Thales will provide the Imprimerie Nationale with a complete secure system for the production and personalisation (graphic and electronic) of the new passports. Passports issued to French nationals will now incorporate an electronic chip that will store secure biometric identity and identification data.
Managing Information
Date: 2006-04-25 |
'E-crime, not ID cards should be top priority'
The government is ploughing too many resources into the ID cards scheme while failing to provide resources to fight e-crime, a member of the House of Lords has claimed.
Lord Erroll today said plans to roll out ID cards in the UK have been promoted by the government as a way of fighting crime but he questioned their validity. During a keynote speech at the Infosecurity conference in London, Erroll said: "ID is very much on the political agenda. E-crime is not so much. Why not?
"You consider the millions [of pounds] to sort out ID cards. I could do a lot more with that. ID is seen as a way of stopping crime - a quick solution. But I question whether that is true. People think it's used to keep you safe.
"We can be much more subtle about this. The thing that no one is talking about is electronic ID. That's sad."
Silicon.com
Date: 2006-04-25 |
Biometric ID plan accelerates
But funding, structure answers lag
After three years of little movement, the plan to furnish transportation workers with biometric ID cards is suddenly on the fast track. The Homeland Security Department in May will solicit proposals for widespread deployment and make an award in July. But concerns remain about how the program, known as the Transportation Workers Identification Credential, will be funded and structured.
DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is “definitely putting TWIC on a fast track,” said Gordon Hannah, managing director of identification solutions for BearingPoint Inc., contractor for the card’s third-phase prototype testing.
Several large federal contractors, including BearingPoint of McLean, Va. and Lockheed Martin Corp., have confirmed they are interested in bidding for the fourth phase of the contract, which is production and deployment of cards for 850,000 port workers nationwide.
BearingPoint was the contractor during TWIC’s third phase of prototyping, and Lockheed Martin is the prime systems integrator for a similar biometric identity card program, Registered Traveler, which enrolls frequent travelers at selected airports.
Washington Technology
Date: 2006-04-24 |
Deutsch
Verbraucher für biometrischen Schutz
An die 70 Prozent der Verbraucher sprechen sich weltweit für biometrische Technologien zur Identifizierung von Personen aus. Voraussetzung ist, dass die Systeme von vertrauenswürdigen Organisationen betreut werden. Dies geht aus einer Studie hervor, die das Ponemon Institute im Auftrag von Unisys durchgeführt hat.
Wiener Zeitung
Date: 2006-04-27 |
"Eintrittsgeld" für EU-Besuch schnellt in die Höhe
Die Innenminister der Europäischen Union haben eine drastische Erhöhung der Visagebühren beschlossen. Wer nach dem 1. Januar 2007 in die Schengen-Staaten reist, muss 60 Euro pro Visum zahlen - bisher liegt der Preis bei 35 Euro.
Tageschau.de
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Biometrie-Handys auf dem Vormarsch!
New York - Handybesitzer wünschen sich verbesserten biometrischen Schutz und Mobile-Commerce-Dienstleistungen wie sie bereits in Asien erhältlich sind. Das ergab eine US-weite Umfrage, die der Biometrie-Spezialist AuthenTec in Auftrag gegeben hat.
Demnach würden 58 Prozent der Befragten ein Mobiltelefon mit Mobile-Commerce-Funktionen kaufen, um damit künftig die Brieftasche zu ersetzen. Doch Handys mit Bezahlfunktionen müssen absolut sicher vor Betrug und Diebstahl sein. Für 73 Prozent der Befragten ist daher ein Fingerprint-Sensor die beste Lösung, um gespeicherte Handydaten zu schützen.
Net-Tribune
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Francais
HI-TEC 2006 : L’espace des technologies
Le dixième Salon des technologies de l’information « Hi-Tec » s’est tenu au palais des Expositions (Safex) des Pins Maritimes (Alger). Etalée du 17 au 20 avril dernier, cette manifestation a été permise par le World Trade Center Algeria (WTCA), un groupe de soutien pour les hommes d’affaires nationaux et les entreprises algériennes. « Hi-Tec » fut aussi l’occasion pour les participants de se montrer, de s’afficher, de voir et d’être vu. Une aubaine pour les mastodontes du marché -sus in les opérateurs de téléphonie- de mesurer leurs stratégies marketing et de jauger leur cote de popularité auprès des visiteurs. En outre, il faudrait remarquer que cette édition n’a pas vraiment généré l’intérêt des « masses ».
Sagem Défense Sécurité a signé le 6 avril un contrat avec la police finlandaise pour la fourniture d’un système AFIS* de nouvelle génération.
Avec ce contrat, remporté suite à un appel d’offres international, la police finlandaise renouvelle sa confiance en Sagem Défense Sécurité, en remplaçant son système actuel par un système intégrant les dernières avancées technologiques.
Au-delà des services traditionnels offerts par un AFIS policier (identification des criminels à partir de traces, paumes et empreintes digitales), ce nouveau système offrira des services civils pour les demandes de visas, de passeports et d’asile.
Pour une identification toujours plus fiable et plus précise, le nouveau système utilisera l’acquisition et le traitement d’images en haute résolution (1000 dpi). Dans le cadre de ce nouveau contrat, des stations de capture de paumes et d’empreintes de haute résolution ainsi que des stations de laboratoires dernière génération seront fournies par Sagem Défense Sécurité aux forces de police finlandaises et déployées sur le territoire.
Aerocontact
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Unisys renforce l'authentification biométrique grâce à l'ouverture d'un nouveau centre d'excellence européen
Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS), la société internationale de services et solutions technologiques, a annoncé aujourd'hui l'ouverture de son Centre d'Excellence Européen de Biométrie à Bruxelles, Belgique, le cœur de l'Union Européenne. Le nouveau centre est un établissement interactif conçu pour exposer des solutions avancées de gestion d'identité aux clients et pour illustrer avec des exemples grandeur nature de possibles applications de la biométrie. De la technologie innovante de la carte d'identité et du passeport électroniques aux techniques avancées d'identification biométrique, ces applications comprennent la reconnaissance faciale en 3-D, la reconnaissance électronique d'empreintes digitales et rétiniennes.
BusinessWire
Date: 2006-04-27 |
Nederlands
Hackers zijn niet zo gevaarlijk als personeel
P7) Computerbeveiligers doen bij voortduring geloven dat aanvallen van buitenaf de grootste bedreiging voor data vormen. Ze hebben ongelijk.
Sterker nog, uit een enquête is af te leiden dat het risico op verlies van gevoelige data van organisaties door nalatig personeel maar liefst vier maal zo groot is als de externe bedreigingen.
Dit is de belangrijkste conclusie van een onderzoek van Websense.
Het beveiligingsbedrijf heeft voor deze enquête in totaal 112 e-crimedeskundigen uit twintig landen - onder wie een aantal uit Nederland - ondervraagd. Van hen verklaart 45 procent dat het grootste gevaar van dataverlies van binnenuit komt.
Planet Internet
Date: 2006-04-21 |
Computer leest gedachten
Een computer die je herkent aan de hand van je gedachten, aan die techniek werken wetenschappers van de Canadese Carleton University. Het idee om hersengolven te gebruiken voor de herkenning van de rechtmatige computergebruiker, en dus de beveiliging van de computer tegen ongeautoriseerd gebruik, is gebaseerd op de premisse dat ieder mens unieke hersengolven heeft en daaraan herkend kan worden. Zelfs wanneer twee mensen dezelfde gedachten hebben, zijn de elektrische stroompjes in de hersenen die daarvoor verantwoordelijk zijn toch lichtjes verschillend en dat verschil is meetbaar. Het systeem van 'gedachtenherkenning' biedt de mogelijkheid om een nieuwe vorm van biometrische beveiliging te creëren naast bestaande vormen als vingerafdruklezers, irisscanners of gezichtsherkenning.
België Europese draaischijf voor biometrie-activiteit Unisys
Unisys heeft in de Brusselse vestiging een European Centre of Excellence geopend voor biometrische technologie. België, in het bijzonder Brussel, wordt zo het middelpunt van waaruit Unisys de eigen expertise over biometrie te gelde wil maken.
“Het is geen show of tentoonstelling,” verzekert ons de Deen Christian Wernberg-Tougaard, directeur marketing & communicatie voor de Europese publieke sector bij Unisys. “We willen onze klanten hier tonen welke impact biometrie op businessprocessen en op de verschillende applicaties kan hebben. Uiteindelijk is het wel de bedoeling zaken te doen, daarover gaan we niet liegen, maar de klanten kunnen wel eerst ten gronde inzicht krijgen in de waarde van biometrie. Er is bovendien ook ruimte voor discussie.”
Meerderheid consumenten bereid om deel privacy in te leveren voor verbeterde dienstverlening
Hoewel privacybescherming overal in de wereld een belangrijke zorg is, wijst nieuw onderzoek van Unisys uit dat traditionele ideeën over het gebruik van privacygegevens achterhaald zijn. Het onderzoek laat zien dat een meerderheid van de consumenten wereldwijd bereid is persoonlijke gegevens te delen als ze zeker weten dat deze informatie goed beschermd wordt en als het voordeel oplevert op het gebied van gebruiksgemak bij het afnemen van diensten.
Uit de eerste wereldwijde studie op dit gebied komt naar voren dat 71 procent van de consumenten wereldwijd zou willen beschikken over een multifunctioneel identiteitsbewijs, dat door tal van organisaties geaccepteerd zou worden als verificatie voor toegang tot systemen of locaties.
ADmanager.nl
Date: 2006-04-26 |
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