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| October 02, 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
Denver to intro biometric airport security checks
Denver in Colorado will become one of the first areas to trial biometric identification for travellers.
The Fast Lane Option Alliance, an industry group that includes Saflink Corporation, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Johnson Controls, Smiths Detection and ID Technology Partners, has announced that it will be providing free FLO Card enrolments to 150 attendees of the Aurora Economic Development Council A-List event in Denver.
The FLO Card is a secure biometric credential intended for use by participants in the Transportation Security Administration's Registered Traveller programme.
Glenn Argenbright, chief executive at Saflink, said: "Frequent business travellers can benefit tremendously from the added convenience and streamlined security promised by the Regular Traveller programme and, in particular, the FLO
Lexmark touts printer lock-down technology
Printer manufacturer Lexmark has unveiled an authentication system for laser multifunction products (MFPs) in response to the stringent security standards of the US Federal government.
The technology gives government agencies an option for enhanced network security protection for MFPs.
The system locks the devices so that users cannot copy, fax, scan, print or initiate workflow processes from the device without first inserting a common access card and obtaining authentication.
Common access cards are issued to US Department of Defense employees and are used to verify identity and security classifications.
Is your vote being counted?
State election officials, reports State-line.org, have become "a new flashpoint for bitter partisan struggles over how balloting is run."
It's as if the rancor engendered by the razor-thin 2000 presidential vote in Florida, when Republican Secretary of State (and Bush campaign co-chair) Katherine Harris was accused of raw partisan decisions, has never abated. Indeed, it seems to have spawned a new era of deep distrust in American politics.
Polls show confidence in the integrity of elections, overseen in 36 states by secretaries of state, has plummeted from pre-2000 levels. In 1996, there were just 108 cases of challenged elections around the U.S.; by 2004, the number had tripled, to 361, according to a survey by election expert Richard Hasen of the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
The Seattle Times
Date: 2006-10-02 |
Denmark Rolls Out Electronic Passports Based on Gemalto Technology
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, today announces that the Danish National Police has started issuing
electronic passports that integrate its most advanced Setec(1) secure technology. For this nationwide deployment Gemalto manages the entire delivery process. In addition to its renowned secure electronic passport software and high security polycarbonate data page technologies, Gemalto will provide passport booklet assembly and individual personalisation of each
passport.
The agreement runs through to 2009, with an option for two additional years. The Danish authorities plan to incorporate the electronic
capability in all new passports from now on and are expected to issue some 250,000 by the end of 2006. Between 700,000 and 800,000 traditional passports are issued annually.
Duke Identifies With Security Needs
Identity management is a new priority for the huge medical-center community. But protection is easier said than done.
The professionals here at Duke University Medical Center and Health System are under enormous pressure. They're responsible for the well-being of hundreds of thousands of patients each year, as well as for conducting groundbreaking medical research of all types. The health system includes regional hospitals, home health-care agencies, and Duke Affiliated Physicians. It's consistently rated one of the top 10 medical centers in the country, and in addition to the prevention and primary-care services provided, its doctors lead in specialty medical services. In 2005, more than 1,000 open-heart surgeries and more than 250 organ transplants were performed. The medical center also comprises one of the largest biomedical research enterprises in the country, with almost $500 million in sponsored research conducted annually.
India to issue biometric passports next year
Government has decided to introduce biometric passports, using sophisticated technology of finger prints, in the country by the end of next year.
It is aimed at restricting misuse of passports.
These will initially be introduced in the category of diplomatic and official passports, officials said.
Such passports, aimed at eliminating the scope of impersonation and other forms of manipulations are subsequently expected to be given to other categories of people.
These passports will have a chip, which will carry the finger print and all other details of its holder.
The fingerprint will also be fed in the computer system of immigration officials at airports and ports.
NZ company may help borders
A New Zealand company could soon be helping protect European and Australian borders against terrorists. Auckland company Biometrics Technologies has three different products being trialled by governments around the world.
The products all identify people based on distinguishing features like fingerprints and eyes, and in some cases using more than one feature.
The company says the technology has applications outside airport security.
It says in some parts of the US, customers can verify credit card transactions with their fingerprint to avoid fraud.
tvnz.co.nz
Date: 2006-10-01 |
Biometric gates for Cairo air passengers
21st century city: The state-of-the-art airport systems will speed up visitors’ entry into the capital.
Biometric immigration gates are to be introduced for the first time in Egypt as part of the US$400m terminal 3 development at Cairo Airport.
Leading international systems integrator Arinc has won the US$22m contract to build the IT infrastructure at the terminal, due to open in early 2008, which includes the country’s first biometric immigration gates, which will be installed at a cost of up to US$5m. The gates themselves will serve as many as 28 airlines operating from Cairo, and be installed with the help of telecoms giant SAGEM.
ITPBusiness
Date: 2006-10-01 |
Primus Canada Sets up Internet Data Center in Vancouver
Primus Telecommunications Canada officially opened a new internet data center this week in Vancouver, in hopes of grabbing a piece of Western Canada’s strong economy.
The new data center will provide off-site digital storage services, as well as archives for companies whose websites are managed by Primus. The data center is equipped with numerous safety precautions, so as to guard against crime and natural disasters. It has been built to include biometric access control, gas fire suppression, earthquake-proof cabinets, advanced environmental controls, and a redundant power system with a diesel generator.
Telco Industry News
Date: 2006-09-29 |
Security appliance meets demand for surveillance video
September 29, 2006 (Network World) -- Due to heightened security concerns, more companies are beefing up their video surveillance systems in lobbies, corridors and stairwells of their offices. But these surveillance systems produce nonstop video that is time-consuming to monitor and review when an incident occurs. And all of that video requires a great deal of network bandwidth to transmit as well as storage space.
That's where start-up 3VR Security enters, with an appliance that makes it as easy to search surveillance video as it is to type in a query into Google.
3VR sells an intelligent video management system that automatically categorizes surveillance video using biometrics and other analytical techniques and creates metadata about the images. Users can quickly search the metadata to find a particular person on video.
ComputerWorld
Date: 2006-09-29 |
Managing Mobile Data Security
“Information leakage”, as it is sometimes termed, is a growing issue for corporations with the increasing availability and decreasing cost of high density flash memory. Flash is present in nearly every consumer gadget, but of particular concern to network administrators are personal productivity tools like USB memory sticks, smart phones, PDAs, and of course mobile email devices.
Mobile email represents yet another security headache for administrators, a fait accompli due to its popularity with senior management, with encrypted attachments crossing the firewall, making inspection difficult or impossible. Once the data is on the mobile device it can be easily compromised through loss or theft. Since mobile email devices have been adopted top-down in organizations, the lost data is likely to be very sensitive, raising major questions of compliance and protection of intellectual property. You can pretty much guarantee that senior executives email drafts of quarterly earnings reports between each other.
IT-Director
Date: 2006-09-29 |
Paying Through the Finger
I am always in a rush, and to me, among the most irritating of life's little annoyances are people who hold up the line by standing there digging through a wallet or purse. They only whip out the card or the cash, it seems, when they see the price ring up or get to the subway turnstile, as if it were a surprise--what, I have to pay? You'd think I'd be happy, then, with the emergence of a company called Pay By Touch, a biometric authentication payment service started three years ago.
I had stopped by the company's kiosk at Wired's NextFest event in New York City (read David Biello's blog to get the highlights). Pay By Touch is exactly what it sounds like. To make a purchase at a participating merchant, you first place a finger on a scanner, which reads the swirls, curls and whorls on your digit. Then you punch in your phone number on an adjacent keypad.
Feds to flash new badges
The lowly employee identity card, that hall pass for government bureaucrats and the corporate masses, is getting an upgrade.
Beginning next month, all federal agencies must move to comply with a presidential directive that requires issuing a new ID card to every government employee and private contractor.
The directive, issued two years ago through the Department of Homeland Security, is intended to address a variety of concerns that emerged in the months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “The government realized they don't even really know who is working for them,” said Jason Halvorson, a security industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan in San Antonio.
SignOnSanDiego
Date: 2006-09-29 |
Are E-Passports More Secure?
The U.S. government has begun rolling out new high-tech passports with embedded chips containing personal data -- name, date of birth and a digital photo -- that can be read by a scanner using wireless technology called radio-frequency identification, or RFID. These so-called e-passports are part of a broader effort to tighten immigration controls by making passports harder to counterfeit. Congress also requires countries in the U.S. visa-waiver program to issue e-passports by October.
Privacy advocates are alarmed by the move, one of the first efforts to put RFID chips -- used by retailers to track merchandise -- into the hands of people. Some worry the chips make it too easy for identity thieves to steal data or for authorities to conduct unauthorized tracking of citizens. The State Department says it has addressed those concerns by encrypting the data, requiring a border agent to enter a special PIN to unlock the data, and other measures.
The Wall Street Journal Online invited Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty to debate the security of e-passports with Barry Steinhardt, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union. Their conversation, carried out over email, is below.
The Wall Street Journal
Date: 2006-09-29 |
American carriers urge 'common sense' to TWIC rule
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The American Trucking Associations is reiterating its call to have the upcoming Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program streamlined with active security standards truckers are already complying with.
The rule requires truck drivers who access ports -- and eventually other "safety sensitive" facilities -- do undergo yet another set of background checks and biometric security protocols.
One background check and one credential for truck drivers would advance port security and benefit commerce, a top U.S. trucking executive testified before Congress on behalf of ATA.
Today's Trucking
Date: 2006-09-29 |
Deutsch
Biometrische Sicherheit für die digitale Zukunft
Nachdem man sich in früheren Jahren mit Themen wie "Business Innovation Management" oder "Standards im Electronic Business" auseinandergesetzt hatte, stand die "Sicherheit für die digitale Zukunft" im Mittelpunkt des diesjährigen E12-Gipfels. Mit einer bunten Mischung aus Keynotes, Workshops und einer begleitenden Produktausstellung beschäftigte sich der Gipfel schwerpunktmäßig mit der Nutzung der Biometrie als Sicherheitstechnik. Höhepunkte der zweitägigen Veranstaltung waren die Referate zur Biometriestrategie der Bundesregierung.
Heise Online
Date: 2006-09-30 |
Biometrische Daten; zweites Gesicht
-Anfang nächsten Jahres führen die USA den elektronischen Pass ein. Der neue Pass wird einen per Funk lesbaren Chip enthalten, der das Foto des Besitzers digital speichert. Der Chip kommt aus Deutschland - als ein Produkt des Gemeinschaftsprojektes der ehemalige Philips-Tochter NXP und Infineon. Im Chip sind außerdem die Passdaten wie Name, Geburtsdatum und Geschlecht gespeichert. In Deutschland erhalten die Pässe seit November 2005 ein elektronisch interpretierbares Foto.
Francais
BIOMETRIE [Exposition/vernissage]
aéroports, voitures, cantines scolaires ou passeports : la biométrie est partout. utilisant l’iris, les empreintes digitales, le visage ou la signature dynamique d’un individu pour l’identifier, la biométrie entre dans les usages et apparaît comme l’outil qui facilite et sécurise le quotidien. pourtant, de nombreuses questions restent en suspend quant à l’utilisation détournée de ces données.
la cité propose au visiteur de se faire un avis !
a vous de juger ! a votre arrivée, des sas d’enregistrement proposent à chacun d’associer empreintes et photographie du visage à un pseudonyme. cette étape permettra de tester la capacité de la machine à reconnaître ou non votre identité auprès de cinq multimédias présents dans l’exposition… dans une cabine, faites varier la luminosité pour voir si la technologie identifie toujours votre visage, évaluez votre capacité à associer des empreintes digitales identiques ou vérifiez si la reconnaissance par la signature numérique est au point, autant d’activités que l’exposition met à votre disposition pour découvrir et tester les possibilités de la biométrie.
Parissi.com
Date: 2006-10-01 |
Ces nés sous X rattrapés par le secret de leurs origines
Les documents d'état civil exigés pour l'établissement d'un passeport biométrique peuvent être explosifs. Parfois, c'est tout un passé d'enfant abandonné qui remonte à la surface.
Quelles précautions prendre au moment de remettre à un administré la copie intégrale de son acte de naissance, lorsqu'on sait que ce document risque de lui révéler le secret de ses origines ? La question, que tout officier d'état civil s'est posée un jour, revêt une acuité particulière depuis la récente introduction du passeport biométrique. Pour obtenir ce document, il est en effet indispensable de produire son acte de naissance.
Le Figaro
Date: 2006-09-30 |
Toujours peu d'explications
Jacques Duchesneau et James Cherry, respectivement patrons de l'ACSTA et d'Aéroports de Montréal, ne sont toujours pas capables d'expliquer les nombreuses failles de sécurité débusquées par le Journal de Montréal à l'aéroport Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau.
Les deux organismes, qui refusaient toute entrevue au Journal mercredi après la publication d'une enquête sur le laxisme dans la gestion des badges et des uniformes, ont finalement donné un point de presse hier soir.
Nederlands
Nieuwsbrief Biometrie In-Zicht nummer 15
Naar aanleiding van de strengere eisen die aan pasfoto's voor nieuwe reisdocumenten zijn gesteld, informeert het ministerie van BZK gemeenten via de Nieuwsbrief Biometrie In-Zicht.
In nieuwsbrief nummer 15 staat onder andere informatie over de bijeenkomst van de Klankbordgroep Gemeenten die op 17 oktober 2006 plaatsvindt en over een informatiebulletin voor de burger met een toelichting op de foto-eisen.
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