• Stanley closes Oberon acquisition

    Purchase puts integrator on the biometrics fast track, enabling it to compete with some of the largest systems integrators in the government market for opportunities with the Defense Department

  • U.K. nursery chain install biometric access control

    Fourteen Busy Bees children’s nurseries install biometric access control from UK Biometric; access control will allow entry only to parents and care-givers

  • Sagem Morpho shows TWIC-compliant biometric reader

    Card is designed to read encrypted biometric data, such as a digital fingerprint, perform the match to the card holder, and perform an active card authentication across a contactless interface

  • Atos Origin wins French biometric passport contract

    French IT services company missed out on the U.K. e-Borders contract, and has also failed to win a framework contract as part of the procurement for the U.K. national ID card scheme, but it finds consolation in winning the contract to manage the development and rollout of the biometric passport system in France

  • Hirsch Electronics biometric station wins award

    The Verification Station from the Santa Ana, California-based company wins Buildings Magazine 2008 award; “Finally…a high-end, cost-effective biometric system for more stringent security needs,” the magazine’s editors explain

  • Federal money for identity programs boost biometrics market

    A slew of U.S. government programs — US VISIT, the Real ID Act, TWIC, the FBI’s next-generation database, and many more — depend on biometric technology; the estimated value of potential contracts to implement federal identity-solutions programs has more than doubled since 2006, rising from $890 million to $2 billion this year; biometric companies fiercely compete — and lobby — for contracts

  • The big biometric hitters

    Five companies are in the lead in the competition for a share of the U.S. government biometric market; they have plowed money — a lot of money — into their lobbying activities, and some hope to strengthen their hand by hiring former administration officials

  • Malaysia renwes Unisys contract

    The Malaysian government has renewed its contract with Unisys Malaysia to continue work on the national ID card (MyKad)

  • Congress weighs in on Digimarc sale

    Legislators uncomfortable with French company Safran acquiring U.S. ID maker Digimarc; they want CFIUS to take a very close look at the sale and its consequences for U.S. citizens’ security and privacy

  • L-1 Identity Solutions receives $4.9 million order for biometric devices

    L-1 contracted to sell its hand-held detection device, identifying individuals via iris, finger, and face biometrics in a mobile situation, to unnamed U.S. government agencies

  • Northrop's Florida unit to get $185M for surveillance systems

    Congress’s supplemental war-time bill, which President George Bush recently signed, includes nearly $185 million for Northrop Grumman’s Joint STARS combat surveillance aircraft program

  • New organization to fight multi-product threats

    Five big technology hitters create a new organization aiming to address complex, multi-product, multi-vendor security threats

  • Fujitsu promotes palm vein biometrics in U.S.

    Palm vein architecture biometric technology is wide-spread in Asia, especially in Japan, where many banks use it in their ATMs; one reason for the popularity of the system in Japan is the stronger association made in Japanese culture between fingerprinting and criminality; Fujitsu believes other reasons — the fact, for example, that fingerprinting is not suitable for about 8 percent of the population — offer opportunities in the U.S. for its technology

  • £500,00 boost for hi-tech firm

    Warwick Warp has developed innovative technology in biometrics which dramatically improves the accuracy and speed of recognition of fingerprints; VCs are intrigued

  • BAE Systems acquires Tenix Defense

    BAE acquires versatile Aussie defense company; the acquisition grows BAE Australia significantly, taking the number of employees to more than 5,500 and current annual sales in excess of A$1.2 billion