Biometrics

Global Biometrics Market To Reach $8.7B In 2013, $11.2B By 2014

dhs-biometrics December 16, 2013 –  According to new research from BCC Research , the global biometric technologies market is expected to reach $8.7 billion in 2013 and will increase to nearly $11.2 billion next year. In addition, BCC projects the market to grow to nearly $27.5 billion by 2019 and to register a five-year CAGR of 19.8% from 2014 to 2019. According to the report, Biometrics: Technologies and Global Markets , technological advances, consumer and commercial acceptance as well as demand of the technology and cost reductions will drive the growth of the market for the foreseeable future. BCC says the new report gives an overview of global and regional markets for biometric technologies and dvices, as well as analyses of market trends from 2013 and estimates for 2014. The report also studies the product life cycle and technology life cycle of various types of biometric devices and the methods employed by different manufacturers and users in maintaining ecological balance. Everyone is in agreement that the market is set for profound growth. The Biometrics Research Group has projected that the global biometrics market will grow to $15 billion by 2015, from its 2012 estimated value of $7 billion.  Leave a Comment comments

Aware Deploys Biometrics Software In Saudi Arabia For Visa Issuance

aware logo December 4, 2013 –  Aware has announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has begun the deployment of several of the company’s COTS biometrics software as a component of the Kingdom’s update to its visa issuance management process. Specifically, the new system makes use of Aware’s Biometric Services Platform (BioSP) as well as its Universal Registration Client (URC) and its related APIs. According to the company, BioSP is a modular service-oriented application to implement workflows and to manage data exchange between government departments. URC is a biometric enrollment application that will operate on hundreds of workstations at consulates and visa service centers globally to collect biometric data from potential visitors to Saudi Arabia. For this project, Aware serves as the principal subcontractor to Fujitsu Arabia. Reported previously , Aware also recently announced that it had supplied products and services to Fujitsu for a similarly-scoped biometric visa applicant screening system in Canada. “The new system in Saudi Arabia highlights the scalability of Aware’s biometric services platform, designed to handle as many as sixteen thousand biometric enrollments in a single hour,” Rob Mungovan, VP at Aware said. “This deployment serves as yet another example of Aware’s COTS products and subcontracted services being used by an integrator to successfully field an advanced, biometrics-enabled visa issuance solution.   Leave a Comment comments

Zwipe Launches Biometric Access Card With Fingerprint Cards Sensor

zwipe logo December 2, 2013 –  Zwipe  has just launched a biometric access card, with fingerprint touch sensors from Fingerprint Cards . According to the company, the new card is multi-functional and is ISO 14443 compliant. Fingerprint data is stored on the card itself. “Providing secure personal ID authentication in an easy-to-use portable device has been our goal,” Kim Kristian Humborstad, CEO of Zwipe said. “Together with FPC’s touch sensor, we have achieved this in our Zwipe Access biometric card. The card provides a secure environment, protecting user data while still being able to communicate easily with access control systems using standard interfaces. FPC’s fingerprint sensors deliver the performance and functionality that our card product requires in an application where low power consumption and compact size are crucial.” “The access control market using cards and tokens is expanding constantly and the challenge is to combine security with user convenience,” Thomas Rex, EVP Sales & Marketing of Fingerprint Cards said. “Zwipe’s biometric card is the solution to this and is a state-of-the-art product that really pushes the limits to what is possible to do on a card today. The use of a touch sensor provides an enhanced user experience and is in line with the worldwide trend of integrating touch sensors into portable devices.” Reported previously , Fingerprint Cards also recently launched a capacitive fingerprint touch sensor for Android and Windows that had a major effect on the company’s share price almost instantly. According to a recently-published report, the overall electronic […]

Global Biometric Standards-Setting Body Formed

News analysis: Global biometric standards-setting body formed The Natural Security Alliance, a French-based international open source biometric standards-setting body that counts BNP Paribas, MasterCard and Carrefour Banque among its members, has launched what it claims is the world’s first association grouping, the Open Alliance, dedicated to propagating shared wireless biometric authentication to protect transactions. Up until now, the French-based organisation has not tried to corner the international standards market, reports Neil Ainger , but with the launch of the Natural Security Alliance’s open source group that is now changing. Jean-Pierre Viboud, group chief executive of Oney Banque Accord in France has been appointed as the open group Alliance’s first chairman, overseeing a collection of banks, card schemes, retailers and vendors all dedicated to developing and encouraging a global open source wireless biometric authentication standard. The shared protocol will be freely available to all and can protect transactions around the world. According to Viboud all open Alliance members, with the initial founding board including AS 24 (TOTAL oil group), Crédit Agricole, Paycert, SIX Payment Services and Swiss Capital International among many others, share a strategic commitment to delivering mission-critical authentication and payment solutions based upon biometric technology. “The Alliance was formed to provide a collaborative space for all professionals who are interested in biometrics and new payment systems to share and develop ideas for an open standard,” he said. “We believe that this information sharing and access to the specifications is one of the main benefits for our members. As […]

‘Soft’ Biometric Cameras Are Watching: Govt. Intelligence Hopes To Use Cameras To Recognize People By The Shape Of Their Ears

Facial Recognition Research Intensifies Research on facial recognition technology is being stepped up to include ‘soft’ biometrics, such as using ears as a unique element of identificaiton. (Photo: Igor Stevanovic / Rhonda J. Miller) Facial recognition has become an increasingly common element in security surveillance, enabling identification of faces in images taken from a distance and in a crowd. But facial recognition is just a step along the way to more and better identification techniques being sought by the U.S. government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).  The agency has challenged top research teams to revolutionize how machines recognize people with a competition announced Nov. 8, according to New Scientist magazine.  Like Us on Facebook The announcement on the IARPA website, dated Nov. 8 said, “Intelligence analysts often rely on facial images to assist in establishing the identity of an individual, but the sheer volume of possibly relevant video and photographs can be daunting.  While automated face recognition tools can assist analysts in this task, current tools perform best on well-posed, frontal facial photos taken for identification purposes…IARPA seeks dramatic improvements in unconstrained face recognition by funding rigorous, high-quality research drawing on a variety of fields to develop novel representations to encode the shape, texture, and dynamics of a face and new ways to use these techniques for faster and more accurate search and retrieval.” The typical approach requires sorting through frame after frame of camera footage to find ones that offer a good chance for identification, then to […]

Bank Robber Apprehended Using Fixed License Plate Recognition Cameras From Vigilant Solutions

LIVERMORE, Calif., Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Vigilant Solutions announces today that its fixed license plate recognition (LPR) cameras were credited in the apprehension of a man wanted for a recent bank robbery in Great Neck, New York. Commissioner John “Jack” Miller explains, “A Chase bank branch in Great Neck was robbed on September 27th, and a woman witnessing the robbery provided information on the subject involved. Using video surveillance from nearby businesses, we were able to locate a vehicle and subject matching the woman’s description. This information coupled with our Village Camera system yielded a license plate number. The license plate number was then entered into our license plate recognition system to provide notification to the department when the vehicle was seen by one of our fixed LPR cameras, provided by Vigilant Solutions. We implemented our LPR program almost five (5) years ago, and it will soon consist of around fifty (50) fixed cameras, along with several mobile systems.” “Roughly one week later,” continues Commissioner Miller, “the vehicle passed one of the fixed LPR cameras, generating an alert that the suspect vehicle had entered the village. We notified other area police departments on the peninsula who helped to locate the vehicle. Within about 45 minutes we had the suspect in custody, and he was charged with first degree robbery and first degree use of a criminal firearm.” Commissioner Miller concludes, “The system will soon cover all entrances to our village. While it is typically used to […]

Fujitsu And PulseWallet Team Up For Biometric Payments

pulsewallet November 20, 2013 –  Fujitsu Frontech North America  and PulseWallet have announced a new relationship utilizing Fujitsu’s PalmSecure biometric technology for biometric payments. According to the companies, PulseWallet is paperless, storing transactions, transaction history, membership cards as well as promotions in a virtual customer profile. Now, under this new partnership, PulseWallet terminals aim to replace consumer credit and debit cards with palm-scanning technology. “From the very beginning, we were looking for an extremely secure and highly accurate form of strong biometric authentication technology to integrate with our solution. Customer registration has to work smoothly for all consumers and verification at POS must occur quickly,” Aimann Rasheed, co-founder and CEO of PulseWallet said. “We evaluated other forms of biometric authentication and we were most impressed with Fujitsu’s PalmSecure technology because of its speed, accuracy and flexibility.” PalmSecure sensors use near-infrared light to capture a user’s palm vein pattern without the need for contact with the sensor. “We are very proud to be partnering with PulseWallet and that they have chosen PalmSecure technology as a value-added benefit to their solution,” Randy Fox, senior director, currency handling and identification product solutions at Fujitsu Frontech North America said. “We are also extremely supportive of their green initiative. Fujitsu has been an eco-friendly company for over 30-years, with a true commitment to developing and delivering solutions that limit impact on the environment.” Payment systems are widely regarded to be the next big wave of biometric integrations, and many biometric wallet applications and solutions are […]

Google Disallows Facial Recognition in Glass Apps

Worried about so-called “Glassholes” automatically identifying the faces of people around them? Google says it doesn’t want that to happen, either. The company tonight posted an update to developer policies for its wearable device Google Glass that explicitly disallows facial recognition apps. It explained in a Google+ update: “As Google has said for several years, […]

US Researchers Working On Biometric System To Completely Replace Passwords

by CBR Staff Writer | 14 November 2013 Researchers claim the use of biometric technology to eliminate the requirement of passwords would is a likely next step. Researchers at Purdue University are developing new biometrics technology, which would allow users to log into computers using iris and fingerprint scans rather than typing passwords. Being developed at the university’s International Center for Biometrics Research, the technology will enable logging into a computer or activate a smartphone by swiping their fingerprint over a sensor which will not require frequently changing passwords. International Center for Biometrics Research director Stephen Elliott was cited by Associated Press as saying that iris and fingerprint scans, as well as facial and voice recognition, are just a few of the tools that can boost security while making lives easier. “I think the average person would tell you they have too many passwords and it’s a hassle to change them all the time, and therefore they use the same password for lots of things, which inherently makes that easier to break,” Elliott added. According to researchers, soldiers in Iraq carry handheld devices that enable scanning fingerprints, retinas and faces and evaluate them with identities in the database Researchers noted that the use of biometric technology to eliminate the requirement of passwords would be a natural next step.

Bank of America Looks To Biometric ATMs In New Patent Application

biometric-atm November 15, 2013 –  The Bank of America has pushed through a patent application, which describes a biometric ATM system. Reported in ATM Marketplace , the patent was submitted to the USPTO in 2012, and published recently in 2013. Specifically, this patent application  outlines a system for authenticating users with a combination of a pin-code and fingerprint biometrics. The design of a biometric ATM and the patent application certainly isn’t very specific, and at this point it looks like the BofA is staking out some territory for development, and doesn’t want to leave much room for competition. “[A] fingerprint scanner for use in the systems and methods of the invention may use optical fingerprint imaging, ultrasonic sensors, capacitance sensors (passive or active) and/or any other suitable method to capture the digital image of a fingerprint,” is just an example of some of the unspecific language contained in this application. “Any suitable method for PIN validation and fingerprint validation may be used to validate the input PIN and fingerprints.” It’s been widely acknowledged that payment systems and ATMs are a coming wave for biometric integrations, and it’s interesting to see the BofA making a move. There are a few places where biometric ATMs are already a reality. Reported previously , the Central Bank of Nigeria has teamed up with Dermalog for biometric POS systems as well as for biometric ATMs. Likewise, in Kenya, Tracom Services has launched a new line of fingerprint ATMs in Nairobi.    Leave a Comment comments […]

Voice Biometric Startup InCights Mobile Raises Angel Funding

Voice Biometric Startup InCights Mobile Raises Angel Funding InCights Mobile Solutions, a provider of voice biometrics software and delivery systems has raised R1 Cr angel funding led by a group of investors including Anand Lunia of India Quotient, Iamwire states. The company plans to use the funds to expand outside India and it is also looking to shift to US. The fund will also be utilized launch new services in the gaming and entertainment sector. Hyderabad-based Incights Mobile Solution was launched in 2010. It offers a voice biometrics engine and associated services, where it uses a person’s voice as the unique identifier, enabling real-time identity verification. Its voice Bio-metrics service can be used to provide protection against identity theft, protected access to information, secure login for remote workers, secure automated authentication, call center transactions or mobile commerce connections. The company was among the 30 startups accelerated by Nasscom.. The startup is supported by Microsoft BizSpark, IAN and IIIT-H. The current applications of the startups includes Contact center caller verification, IVR Caller verification, Mobile app authentication, Web transaction validation. According to the survey conducted, smartphone users have grown frustrated with current authentication methods and 90% of them are eager to use voice biometrics in place of existing methods. The overall market for voice and face biometrics is expected to reach nearly $3 billion by the end of 2018. Like the various biometric options, voice-based identity authentication can be used in tracking attendance, financial transactions and a host of others where […]

BIO-key To Integrate Biometric Platform Into AMD Security Solutions

bio-key logo November 12, 2013 –  BIO-key International  has announced that the company is working with AMD to ensure compatibility of its WEB-key biometric management platform with AMD’s upcoming security solutions. As a result of this work, the company says device manufacturers will be able to use the BIO-key algorithm to match fingerprints on compatible AMD devices, with or without a server, or in the network or cloud. Specifically, AMD customers will be using BIO-key’s scanner independent algorithm. “BIO-key is honored to be working with AMD toward this uniquely valuable TrustZone integration,” said Jim Sullivan, BIO-key’s VP of Strategy and Business Development said. “With this solution, OEMs will be insulated from the rapidly changing fingerprint scanner marketplace by having a single best-of-breed, interoperable platform to interface with. Online service providers and enterprises will benefit from a standardized, securely configured WEB-key client on their users’ devices, made available by device manufacturers or through the ARM TrustZone technology ecosystem. This will allow enhanced security for online transactions and BYOD security. Fingerprint scanner manufacturers benefit by being part of a secure cloud infrastructure allowing remote and cloud authentication, which significantly enhances the core value proposition of fingerprint authentication beyond unlocking the phone or other device. Our existing patents on securing biometric data and keys using Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) make this a natural evolution of our product strategy.” Tomorrow, November 13, 2013, BIO-key will present at the 2013 AMD Developer Summit with its presentation titled, “Leveraging fingerprint biometric authentication to streamline secure access.” […]

Vision-Box Deploys Biometric eGates At Lisbon International Airport

vision-box November 7, 2013 –  Vision-Box  has announced that it has set up biometric Automated Border Control eGates at the Lisbon International Airport. In particular, the gates that have been deployed are the company’s vb i-match 5, which can process the Portuguese ePassports as well as the Portuguese National Citizen Card and holders of diplomatic or special passports as part of recently implemented pilot projects for Brazilian and Angolan nationals. To verify the identity of users passing through the gates, vb i-match 5 uses biometrics, including iris, fingerprint and facial recognition. This particular gate design has been in production since 2007. “Today, as in 2007, Portugal continues in the forefront of automated border control and Vision-Box is delighted to continue to support SEF and have a positive impact in keeping Portuguese borders safe while at the same time providing a good passenger experience,” Miguel Leitmann, Senior Vice President of Vision-Box said. Reported previously , Vision-Box also recently deployed eGates at the Hamad International Airport in Qatar. Earlier this year, Vision-Box launched what it was calling a ‘ biometric periscope ,’ for long distance capture of face and iris in self-service eGates. The device is capable of capturing biometrics from a distance of 1 metre. Leave a Comment comments

Biometric Technology: Curbing Fraud In Banks

biometric Mukosha mulenga By MUKOSHA MULENGA BANKS and other financial institutions hold the key to one of our most treasured assets: our money. Most banks are now looking at using biometrics to protect against identity fraud and comply with government regulations. The use of biometric technology is becoming widely recognised in the banking industry as a viable means to prevent identity fraud, safeguard data, improve ease-of-use, and save money from lost or stolen passwords. When you consider that approximately 84 percent of bank fraud is committed by in-house staff, or that nearly 40 percent of all help desk calls are for forgotten passwords, it is no surprise that many banks are turning to biometric technology for increased security and convenience.  Banks therefore now have the challenge of integrating fingerprint functionality into existing in-house applications or their core banking applications. Banks can use solutions such as ) from M2SYS, for safeguarding enterprise data and reducing costs. EBS supports active directory, and can enable banks to secure login to their network and replace user names and passwords with something that you cannot share, lose, or forget: Your Fingerprint! With an ever-increasing number of security breaches, the pressure on banks to implement methods of password management, identity management, data and network security, and two factor authentication has never been stronger. The sharing or theft of user passwords still remains the most popular reason that corporate data is compromised. Biometrics solves this problem by allowing businesses and banks to implement a centralised biometric […]

NIST, University of Texas Researchers Say There?s More To Image-based Biometric Recognition Than Faces Alone

facialrecognition2 November 8, 2013 –  A new study published in the journal of Psychological Science by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas  and the National Institute of Standards and Technologies  could turn our understanding of facial recognition on its head. The research describes a series of experiments that demonstrates there is potentially more information for biometrics-based identity recognition in images of people than the face alone. Specifically, the recognition study used three types of images for comparison: a subject’s face and upper body (left); only the face (center); and the upper body with the face masked (right). Results suggest that automatic recognition systems could be improved by adding body information beyond the face. “For twenty years, the assumption in the automatic face recognition community has been that all important identity information is in the face,” Jonathon Phillips, an electronics engineer at NIST who is a co-author on the study said. “These results should point us toward exploring new ways to improve automatic recognition systems by incorporating information about the body beyond the face.” In a series of experiments, the researchers showed study participants pairs of images of either the same or different people and asked them to determine if the photos matched or not. The images selected for the study were chosen from a database used in the NIST Face Recognition Vendor Test 2006 , an international competition of face recognition systems conducted by NIST. The study team selected a subset of the image pairs that automated face […]

A New Camera System To Predict Violent Behaviour

London: Scientists have developed a new camera system that can help predict a person’s aggressive behaviour such as kicking, pushing, hitting and throwing. The system Kintense analyses a person’s body and figures out where the joints are in order to create a real-time 3D skeleton figure. An algorithm then recognises movements made by this model that indicate aggressive behaviour, ‘New Scientist’ reported. A new camera system to predict violent behaviour In research trials, certain actions such as kicking were recognised with 90 per cent accuracy, but other movements, like punching and throwing, were trickier to spot. Inspired by Microsoft’s gaming sensor Kinect, the system doesn’t require people to be facing the camera. In research trials, certain actions such as kicking were recognised with 90 per cent accuracy, but other movements, like punching and throwing, were trickier to spot. The researchers plan to upgrade the system so it can recognise verbal aggression, too, the report said. Kintense, designed by Shahriar Nirjon and colleagues at the University of Virginia, was created to warn medical staff if a patient is acting violently. However, it can also find application in security cameras, researchers said. via Technology – Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFFgnIigb3SrWZXuavLfxiV5G5VpQ&url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/a-new-camera-system-to-predict-violent-behaviour/433326-11.html Put the internet to work for you.

Verint Acquires Voice Biometric Company Victrio

MELVILLE, N.Y. and MENLO PARK, CALIF., October 29, 2013 — Verint? Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Victrio&trade, an innovator in fraud prevention and identity authentication solutions. The combination of Verint and Victrio advances this comprehensive solution set by combining industry-leading voice biometrics and predictive analytics with customer-centric workforce optimization (WFO) solutions, furthering the company’s strength in fraud and risk analytics. Today, risk management, fraud prevention and identity authentication are high profile topics in more and more organizations. With an increased focus on safeguarding customer identity and private information, companies worldwide are investing in technology and services that help mitigate risk, prevent fraud, reduce fraud-related loss and improve the customer experience–all while decreasing contact center operating costs. According to Ovum, “Risk-based authentication is going to be an increasingly important requirement. It represents a more realistic approach for business users, who won’t then need to present multiple credentials every time they log in.”1 More Security Insights White Papers More >> Reports More >> Webcasts More >> Victrio solutions combine a new generation of “passive” voice biometrics with unique predictive analysis that can accurately detect fraudsters and authenticate customers without caller interruption. Its innovative voice biometrics solution is ideally suited for large financial institutions, including banks, card issuers, wealth management service providers and other organizations focused on fraud reduction. Earlier this year, Victrio was named by Gartner, Inc. as a “Cool Vendor in Security: Identity and Access Management, 2013.”2 “We’re delighted to welcome […]

German Biohacker Implants Cassette-Sized Biometric Chip Under His Skin

tim cannon November 1, 2013 –  On the heels of Halloween comes a stomach-turning and somewhat bizarre story out of Germany. Reported in Vice’s Motherboard blog , Tim Cannon, a German “biohacker” implanted a computer chip in his arm that uses an open-source system to wirelessly record and transmit his biometric data. Dubbed, Circadia 1.0, Cannon had the chip implanted beneath his skin by body modification “pioneer,” Steve Haworth, not a doctor. And according to the Vice report, the device was slipped under his skin without the use of anesthesia. If that’s not enough to totally gross you out, the entire device is about the size of an Altoids tin and protrudes from Cannon’s arm with some pretty gruesome-looking stitches. The device was built by Cannon and his colleagues at Grindhouse Wetware and wirelessly transmits data from Cannon’s body to Android devices. Charging is also performed wirelessly. The Circadia wasn’t just made for Cannon and his pals. According to the Vice report, the first production run of Circadia chips will be ready and will cost somewhere around $500. Don’t get me wrong, what Cannon and his team have made is very cool, and is certainly ahead of its time. I would expect that there is a lot of development currently taking place for some similar devices, but this particular instrument looks pretty painful and obstructive. No doubt, there are many applications and meaningful reasons to measure biometric information in real-time. Depending on what’s being measured, this could even be used […]

Biometric Market To Flourish By 2018

Biometric market to flourish by 2018 – Goode Intelligence Goode Intelligence has predicted mobile security products and services will grow within the next five years, generating more than US$8.3 billion revenue by 2018. HumanIPO reported earlier this month on the National Cyber Security Alliance’s preferred smartphone security survey. Focusing on the mobile biometric security market, Goode believes the industry is driven by Apple’s release of Touch ID. “Apple has disrupted everything and has again disrupted a market and rebranded biometrics as a convenient method of  communicating with consumer technology,” the report stated. Within five years, 3.4 billion users are predicted to engage with biometrics on their mobile devices, alluding to a collective revenue of US$8.3 billion. Fingerprint sensors are forecasted to become a standard feature for high-end smart mobile devices by  2015, serving as a replacement with “cumbersome and inconvenient” methods currently available on mobile devices. With regards to mobile commerce, mobile devices are predicted as the primary mode for digital commerce. However, Goode reasons its progress is currently being hampered by identity verification and payment authorisation yet to be updated. Biometrics is suggested as a replacement for payment authorisation, as well as serving its goal in the authentication of products as supported by the Field Integrated Design Operations (FIDO) Alliance, among others. It will also contribute to scale security in the protection of sensitive information and transactions with services such as Mobile Device Management (MDM), secure containers and Mobile Application Management (MAM) succeeding in the creation of a […]

Biometric ID Cards For Foreigners Studying In Malaysia

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry is in talks with the Education Ministry on the proposed implementation of security featured biometric identity cards for foreign students studying in local institutions of higher learning said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Wednesday. “We do have some problems with regard to foreign students. “We are currently in discussions with the Education Ministry to adopt the biometric identity card with security features such as barcode and RIFD chip for foreign students here,” he told reporters at a press conference in Parliament lobby. He said the identify card would serve as the students traveling permit when in the country rather than the students having to carry passports where ever they go. “Several countries, namely Saudi Arab, Yemen and several Middle East countries have indicated interest in adopting such a card for their students students here,” he added. Based on ministry’s records, there were some 80,000 international students in the country last year. The aim is to attract 200,000 foreign students by 2020. In a related issue, Ahmad Zahid said that a pilot project is currently underway to implement the biometric identity card for the 2.116mil foreign workers in the country by the end of next year. He added that cards would be issued according to the sectors employing the foreign workers to allow immigration officials to keep tabs. “By end of next year, all foreign […]