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| October 09, 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
10-for-your-Bio
In today's episode of the “10 for your Bio” we welcome from .
We asked the 10 questions. Click to read the interview and see what has to say about biometrics and the biometric industry.
English
British ID card scheme to cost billions
The U.K.'s identity card project will cost 5.4 billion pounds ($10.2 billion) to set up and run over the next 10 years, according to the British government. Home Office minister Liam Byrne announced the figure on Monday, establishing for the first time a governmental estimate for what will be one of the world's largest IT schemes.
The cards will store biometric data, a feature which will be introduced in passports from 2008, Byrne said. These data include fingerprint, iris and facial-recognition information. From 2010, anyone applying for or replacing a passport must also receive an ID card, although the government will have to pass another law to make them compulsory for all citizens. Click here for the full story at ZDNet UK.
New Approach to RFID-Powered Building Security
A platform called Tetragate combines RFID-enabled ID cards with cameras and facial-recognition software to monitor and authenticate people as they enter facilities.
Oct. 5, 2006—The key card has become a ubiquitous accoutrement of the white-collar worker. Most corporate and government offices distribute these RFID-enabled cards to employees or other authorized visitors, who use them to gain access to offices or buildings, while others must check in manually. Each proximity card transmits a unique ID number that is then written to a database that provides a record of every person entering a secure facility. But if employees hold doors for one another, then no records are kept for those who enter without showing the card.
RFiD Journal
Date: 2006-10-09 |
Pay By Touch introduces online biometric authentication service
US-based Pay By Touch has introduced an online biometric authentication service that utilises fingerprint scanning technology to verify PC users.
The vendor says the service, called TrueMe, provides PC users with a fast and secure way to identify themselves, interact and transact on the Web using their fingerprints.
When signing in a user touches a TrueMe certified finger sensor built into a computer or attached as a USB device. Information about the user's fingerprint is encrypted inside the sensor and combined with the unique device ID before it is sent to the TrueMe authentication servers.
UPEK Teams with Pay by Touch to Bring Biometric Security to the Internet
UPEK(R), Inc., the world's leading brand of fingerprint authentication security solutions, today announced that the same level of user privacy and protection its biometric solutions have brought to the world's leading consumer brands of PCs and USB devices has now extended to the Internet. As announced today by Pay By Touch(TM), this unique hardware and software offering is being utilized by the new TrueMe(TM) service, the first secure, on-demand biometric authentication service available over the Internet.
Biometrics firm eyeing world bent on security
Growing global demand for protection against terrorism and identity theft could help Biometrics Technologies New Zealand tap into a billion-dollar market, the Auckland-based company says. Its idea is as old as the pyramids, where workers were identified not only by name but by traits including size, face shape and complexion.
Biometrics was given $263,000 by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to help put a modern spin on the old idea - identifying among other things people's fingerprints, irises and faces.
The company has a trial running in a Welsh school where supervisors use a hand-held device to photograph students' faces, which are automatically checked against records to weed out any would-be exam cheats.
NZ Herald
Date: 2006-10-09 |
IPS completes biometric passport move
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has completed its transition to the production of ePassports, replacing the production of traditional passports with those containing a facial biometric.
This means the UK has beaten the US Visa Waiver deadline for the introduction of ePassports, and means British citizens issued with passports after 26 October will not need visas to travel to the US.
The new design comprises a number of security features, including a secure chip with the holder's facial biometric. The new format is harder to forge and helps show whether the passport is genuine or has been tampered with. The facial biometrics on the chip also help directly link the passport holder to the document.
Over 40 countries are already in the process of introducing ePassports. Facial recognition will be used to check passport applications against a database of known passport fraudsters, as well as being used to enable increasing automation and efficiency of border control and to render them more secure.
The Register
Date: 2006-10-09 |
State's biometrics industry has definite potential
BRIDGEPORT, WV — West Virginia’s biometrics industry has definite potential, speakers told a group examining ways to boost the state's newest industry this week.
Richard Lester, founder and director of the Industrial Performance Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke about the current status of biometrics in the country and state, and presented an action plan for growing North Central West Virginia’s biometrics sector.
Lester is a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT. In 2003 and 2004, he conducted studies related to biometrics in the area.
Late last year, the I-79 Development Council asked Lester to examine biometrics development along I-79.
eNews Courrier
Date: 2006-10-08 |
Data at risk when laptops lost or stolen
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation has put information about at least 132,000 people at risk by losing laptop computers, WTOP-FM reports.
The Washington-area radio station said records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show nearly 400 laptops have been misplaced since 2001. In nine of those cases, the computers contained payroll information like names, addresses, Social Security numbers and other data.
The department, in a statement, said everyone whose information had been put at risk had been notified and it was working with police to make sure no one became a victim of identity theft.
Biometric market in GCC worth Dh1.8b
Dubai: The market for biometric systems in the GCC is estimated to be worth almost $500 million (Dh1.8 billion), according to a report released recently. "The GCC countries are an escalating regional market, with an estimated value of $10 billion for safety and security (including biometrics systems) products. The GCC is said to have Unique market conditions that make ideal venues for this industry," the report said. "The Gulf region is increasingly adapting biometric security systems for confirming the identity of individuals in the workplace and at government sites, including airports and border points," said the report released by organisers of Intersec Middle East 2007 exhibition.
Ref design adds biometric security to portable HDDs
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and Symwave Inc. have jointly introduced a reference design for adding biometric security to external HDDs using fingerprint recognition technology. The reference design promises flexibility and convenience for both HDD manufacturers and their customers.
The new CY4671 reference design, based on Symwave's SW6888 fingerprint sensor IC and Cypress' EZ-USB FX2LP USB controller, addresses the growing need for secure data on portable drives. It allows manufacturers of portable HDDs or enclosures to easily add biometric security that limits access to data on the drives to those with a registered fingerprint. The reference design supports 1-, 2.5- and 3.5-inch hard drives of all capacities.
Engineering Times
Date: 2006-10-05 |
Northrop Wins U.S. Contract for ID Services
Northrop Grumman Corp., the second-largest supplier of computer systems to the federal government, won a contract valued at as much as $750 million to provide biometric identification services to the Department of Homeland Security's immigration agency. Century City-based Northrop has worked with the agency since 1999 installing biometric capture devices that allow it to scan and record fingerprints of those applying for U.S. citizenship and green card renewals. The most recent contract is an extension of that previous work.
Biometric Touchpad is designed for notebooks.
October 4, 2006 - SecurePad biometric interface module integrates LiveFlex fingerprint sensor to provide notebooks with biometric security. Users swipe finger over plastic surface for authentication, identification, and data security, eliminating need to remember multiple usernames and passwords. Sensor's surface is resistant to general chemicals, liquids, abrasion, and impact. SecurePad is compatible with wide range of biometric software applications.
Thomasnet
Date: 2006-10-04 |
Canadian poll - biometric identification and immigration in favour
Most Canadians do not understand what biometrics are, but think the government should use them to prevent prospective immigrants from using bogus identity documents to enter the country, according to a recent poll.
Fraudulent identity documents are a "very serious problem" and biometrics should be used to prevent people from abusing government programs, including the immigration and refugee systems, said more than half the respondents in an Ipsos Reid survey conducted for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
"Four out of five Canadians believe that by the end of this decade, it is likely almost every adult Canadian will have at least one biometric ID on file to verify their identity," the survey notes. "67% support conducting background checks to verify the identity of non-Canadians applying for an immigration visa to enter Canada."
WorkPermit.com
Date: 2006-10-04 |
A National Driver's License and the Fading Right of Anonymity
All totalitarian dystopias, in life and in art, seem to be obsessed with identifying people. The obligatory scene in which a stern, uniformed man demands "your papers, please" has evolved into the automatic scanning of various body parts, but the purpose is always the same: to abolish the right to be anonymous.
In the coming weeks, we'll learn how much it will cost Americans in the future -- in money, time, and annoyance, as well as personal and political freedom -- to convince government officials that we are who we say we are. Under the REAL ID Act, which was passed as part of a 2005 emergency Iraq war funding bill, the Department of Homeland Security will soon set national standards for state driver's licenses, which are to include "a common machine-readable technology, with defined data elements." The cards will not only be required for driving a car, but will have to be presented and scanned before entering any federal building or upon any contact with federal agencies, as when passing through airport security.
Counterpunch
Date: 2006-10-03 |
Motorola biometrics crack Miami vice
Police in Miami have upgraded their biometric forensic tools with new kit from Motorola, enabling them to solve cases that have previously stalled, including seven murders.
The Miami-Dade Police Department said this week that it has upgraded its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to the latest Motorola Printrak Biometric Identification Solution.
The system offers enlarged storage capacity as well as increased descriptor data for each record resulting in increased accuracy.
The Miami-Dade agents have already noticed a 30 per cent increase in reverse search hits on the system, according to Glen Calhoun, superintendent of the Identification Section at Miami-Dade.
BIO-key International Awarded Additional US Patent for Biometric Security
WALL, N.J., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BIO-key International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BKYI - News), a leader in finger-based biometric identification and wireless public safety announced today that the Company's patent for a biometric authentication security framework has been granted by the US patent office. The patent (No. 7,117,356) was issued to BIO-key for a biometric authentication security framework that enhances commercial and civil biometric use. BIO-key's authentication security framework protects privacy and security while also facilitates ease of use of biometric systems. The technology that this patent is based on is the foundation for authentication security as incorporated in BIO-key's WEB-key® product line. WEB-key is a mature enterprise authentication solution that functions in a wide variety of application environments. The solution supports a variety of implementation alternatives including card technologies for 'two-factor' authentication and also supports 'single-factor' authentication.
SAS rolls out biometric security
Research released today from Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) reveals that there is considerable support from air travellers for the introduction of biometric security measures.
SAS regularly canvasses more than 500 members of its frequent flier programme, EuroBonus, to gauge members’ views on their business travel needs. Just over half of respondents (53 per cent) believe that the introduction of biometric security will help protect passenger identity and restore confidence in airport security.
SAS’ latest survey demonstrates that educating passengers about biometric security is an increasingly important issue for the aviation industry. Sixty per cent of the respondents agreed that government and immigration agencies should be able to share biometric information.
Internet Travel News
Date: 2006-10-03 |
Francais
Empreintes digitales: on fiche, on fiche !
Aux Etats-Unis, plusieurs écoles du comté de Cumbria ont pris les empreintes digitales des élèves sans l'accord des parents.
Ces mêmes parents envisagent d'attaquer en justice. Effet secondaire de la loi américaine: La police a accès à ces bases de données.
Si ce genre de pratique se répand, le gouvernement pourrait donc se retrouver progressivement avec les empreintes digitales de toute la population (alors qu'en temps normal, vos empreinte ne sont prises que lors d'une arrestation). C'est une manière de faire accepter en douce l'idée du fichage biométrique systématique. L'europe n'est pas en reste avec son gigantesque projet auquel les états membres devront bien se plier. Quelques écoles en France ont également franchi le pas, sans compter la carte d'identité française pour laquelle vous devrez donner vos empreintes lors du renouvellement.
La carte d'identité électronique sur la voie de garage?
Selon Christian Cabal, député UMP (Loire), le projet de loi sur la carte d'identité électronique Ines ne pourra pas être déposé par le gouvernement avant les élections présidentielles de 2007.
«Le calendrier parlementaire est tendu. Le projet de loi aurait pu être déposé au printemps 2006, mais il y a eu la crise du contrat première embauche...» a-t-il expliqué le 4 octobre, à l'occasion d'une conférence de presse consacrée au suivi de son rapport sur «les méthodes scientifiques d'identification des personnes à partir de données biométriques et techniques de mises en œuvre», publié en 2003.
Premier bug du passeport biométrique
Vous devez vous rendre à l’étranger pour conclure une affaire qui engage votre carrière? Vous voulez yrejoindre vos petits-enfants en vacances? Sachez que l’administration peut, dans les deux cas, vous empêcher de partir durant plusieurs semaines. Vous aimez vos parents? Sachez que l’administration peut vous informer brutalement que ce ne sont pas vos vrais parents et qu’en réalité, vous êtes né à l’étranger d’une femme dont on ne vous révèlera jamais l’identité. Ceci se passe en France, en 2006.
Nederlands
Ook strenge eisen aan pasfoto op rijbewijs
NIJMEGEN - Pasfoto's voor het nieuwe rijbewijs moeten aan dezelfde strenge eisen voldoen als de foto's in het nieuwe biometrische paspoort. En dat terwijl het nieuwe rijbewijs geen reisdocument is.
„Vreemd“, vindt J. de Ruiter, hoofd van de Balie Burgerzaken van de gemeente Nijmegen dan ook. „Vorige week kon je nog gewoon een rijbewijs krijgen waarvoor de oude eisen voor pasfoto's golden. Nu moet het weer anders, met als reden dat het rijbewijs ook als legitimatiebewijs dient. Ik vraag me af waarom. Want op het rijbewijs komt helemaal geen chip zoals op het biometrische paspoort wel is. Je gebruikt het ook niet voor grenscontroles.“
De Gelderlander
Date: 2006-10-05 |
Brussel geeft opdracht aan HP en France Télécom
De Europese Commissie betaalt een consortium van het Amerikaanse technologieconcern HP en een dochterbedrijf van France Télécom 210 miljoen euro voor de aanleg van een nieuw communicatiesysteem. Dat maakte Brussel vandaag bekend.
HP en Equant zullen een zeer streng beveiligd intern communicatienetwerk realiseren dat de huidige systemen deels vervangt. Het gaat om sTESTA, een netwerk op Europees niveau dat de instellingen van de Europese Unie en nationale overheden in staat stelt om onderling gevoelige data veiliger en efficiënter uit te wisselen.
Het gaat onder meer om immigratiegegevens, bestanden van justitie en politie en geldtransacties.
sTESTA moet de Europese communicatie infrastructuur efficiënter maken. Het vormt de backbone die het nieuwe Schengen Informatiesysteem (inclusief biometrische gegevenuitwisseling) en overige ook nationale informatiesystemen beter moet laten samenwerken. (ANP)
Automatiseringsgids
Date: 2006-10-03 |
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