Cryptomathic’s Mike Bond talks with host Chris Corum about the efforts to secure e-Passports with the new Extended Access Control (EAC). Bond explains the foundations of EAC and describes how it builds upon the earlier security techniques of Basic Access Control (BAC) to protect the biometrics on the contactless chip. Explore how EAC creates a worldwide PKI, how it impacts issuers and vendors, and whether it will make lines longer or shorter at immigration points.
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Japanese biometric vendor Sagawa Advance claims to have a facial recognition system that can tell identical twins apart, according to Digital World Tokyo. Sagawa’s technology uses an infrared scanner to analyze 40,000 data points on a face and then compares the details against a database of people previously registered. The technology is used for access control to secure facilities. Sagawa plans to sell the scanner and database computer for $60,000 at some point this year.
Read the full story here.
Cogent Systems announced the acquisition of Maximus’ Security Solutions Division for $5 million. The division provides ID management and credentialing integration services, security consulting and custom web application development. The group also has developed logical and physical access integration with Department of Defense Common Access Card and Personal Identity Verification cards.
With more than fifteen years of experience designing and implementing multi-technology and multi-application smart card systems using biometric technologies, the division adds to Cogent Systems' ability to provide ID system integration services to federal civilian agencies and military departments, state and local governments, and international customers. The division also has designed and operated ID management infrastructures and services for e-Authentication and health care eligibility cards.
The UK Identity and Passport Service said it has slashed the cost of their ID scheme by nearly a £1 billion. But there are many opponents who feel that by cutting costs, citizens will be paying the price in security.
The IPS said that its cost estimate for giving ID cards to every UK national and running the system for 10 years had been cut from £5.43 million to £4.56 million. The IPS has cut costs by deciding to leave the "open market" to capture citizens' biometrics, effectively outsourcing the cost of enrolling people onto the ID scheme.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security introduced H.R. 5982, The Biometric Enhancement and Airport-Risk Reduction (BEAR) Act of 2008. The legislation enhances previous aviation security efforts by ensuring proper introduction of biometric identification credentials to airport workers.
The bill would require the Transportation Security Administration to study existing and proposed biometric security programs at airports, to study how airports can transition to standards-based interoperable biometric systems and to submit to Congress a breakdown on best practices for issuing biometric credentials for airport employees.
"This bill is an innovative approach towards legislating smart security, it ensures there is a comprehensive plan in place before airports begin using biometric identification for its workers," said Chairman Thompson.
Nisca has rolled out its small footprint PR-C101 card printer that can match the quality of dye-sublimation printers. Featuring a lightweight construction, the printer can fit into small workspaces. It can even be stored on a shelf or under a counter when not in use.
KSW Microtec AG will be launching its new UHF polycarbonate inlay for security-critical applications in the government and enterprise ID sectors at CTST 2008 in Orlando, Florida, from May 12 to 15.
KSW Microtec's UHF inlay polycarbonate tag is ideally suited for the production of border crossing cards, drivers' licenses, police ID and national ID cards. Unlike a traditional PET inlay, this new product, with orders already on hand, is easily laminated into a polycarbonate card, ensuring a matching material connection and thus safeguarding against card delamination.
The Transportation Security Administration has launched a 90-day employee screening pilots at seven airports as a requirement of the Omnibus Appropriations Act passed by Congress in January 2008. The legislation mandates examination of several types of employee screening in order to determine ways to enhance aviation security.
Evaluation of biometric access control will occur at Boston’s Logan International Airport and Denver International. The Omnibus Appropriation Act provides up to $15 million for these employee screening programs. These airports were selected from more than 100 that expressed interest in participating in the pilots because of their diverse flight operations, passengers and physical layouts.
LaserCard Corp. has received a purchase order to supply optical memory cards for the Italian Ministry of Justice employee ID program. The Ministry plans to issue the cards as secure ID badges containing personal data including employment, biometric identification and health information, to all Ministry employees.
Italy’s national printer and mint, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A (Poligrafico), issued the purchase order to LaserCard’s Authorized Value-Added Reseller, Laser Memory Card S.p.A., of Rome. Poligrafico is the prime contractor for the project and will add a contact chip to the card, enabling it to access to e-government services, and also will personalize the cards using data supplied by the Ministry of Justice. LaserCard expects to deliver more than $100,000 worth of optical card stock to Poligrafico in June for this program. The Ministry intends to enroll employees immediately and to begin card issuance in July.
The cards will comply with national optical memory/IC chip standards set for Italy’s Citizen ID Card and are designed to operate within the planned national ID infrastructure. LaserCard has previously supplied approximately $18 million worth of optical memory cards and secure encoders for both the Italian Citizen and Foreign Resident ID Card programs.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) has awarded Unisys Canada Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unisys Corp., a contract to deploy and manage an identification management system, using fingerprint and iris biometric technology to verify the identities of airport workers at 29 airports throughout Canada.
The new system, based on products from ImageWare Systems Inc., will replace the existing application used in CATSA’s Restricted Area Identification Card (RAIC) system. The RAIC system is designed to enhance aviation security by verifying the identities of airport workers via biometrics and making sure that only those workers with security clearance are permitted to enter restricted areas. It also enables CATSA to update the security clearance status of all 100,000 airport workers instantly at all airports across the country.
Entrust Inc., a Dallas-based digital identity vendor, will provide its public key infrastructure to the Taiwanese government to help authenticate biometric information stored on e-passports.
Taiwan will begin offering the new e-passports to its 23 million citizens by the end of 2008. The validity of the information stored on the chip will be ensured using PKI from Entrust Authority Security Manager. Entrust provides e-passport security for the U.S., U.K., Slovenia, Singapore, New Zealand and now Taiwan.
“The need to securely identify people moving across national and international borders has never been more important than it is today,” says Poh-Chuan Tan, public sector director of HP Asia Pacific and Japan. “We are excited to be enabling the implementation of biometric e-passports in Taiwan to help increase border security without adding to traveler waiting times.
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