• Growth of adolescent fingerprints can be predicted

    One difficulty law enforcement faces is recognizing whether the fingerprints taken during adolescence and in adulthood were those of the same individual; German researchers have developed a new procedure enabling the growth of fingerprints to be predicted

  • Cross Match's SEEK II may have identified bin Laden

    SEEK II from Florida-based Cross Match is a 4-pound computer that captures photographs, complete fingerprints, and iris scans; its memory holds the images and biometrics of up to 60,000 people; unconfirmed reports suggest that the Navy SEALs who killed bin Laden used a SEEK II to identify him; there are about 5,000 SEEK II devices in the field, being used by the U.S. military, border patrol, and law enforcement agencies, and also by other militaries

  • Ceelox unveils fingerprint authentication for cloud networks

    Ceelox, Inc. recently announced the release of Ceelox ID Online which is a biometric solution designed specifically for cloud computing applications; users can now use their fingerprints to securely authenticate their credentials, minimizing the threat of having their user name and password stolen or compromised; stolen passwords and online identity theft has risen dramatically in recent years; from mid-2005 to mid-2006 alone, roughly fifteen million Americans were the victims of fraud related to identity theft; with Ceelox ID, users also have the flexibility to use one password for all their accounts to increase flexibility and convenience, while maintaining security

  • Precise Biometrics makes it easier for firms to build hardware

    The longest delays in the production of biometrics hardware has been the integration of fingerprint recognition software, but thanks to a recently released product by Precise Biometrics, hardware manufacturers will find it even easier to build their devices; Precise Biometrics announced the launch of BioMatch Embedded, a software product that enables hardware companies to quickly and easily integrate fingerprint verification into their products; the firm says that rapid design, development, and testing is a key factor in how competitive a hardware manufacturer, and Precise Biometrics’ believes that BioMatch Embedded will help speed up this process

  • Biometric meetings to tackle security issues

    A meeting in Washington, D.C. on 5-6 May, organized by the Centre for Policy on Emerging Technologies , this event is part of the RISE project (Rising pan-European and International Awareness on Biometrics and Security Ethics), a task 2 initiative sponsored by the Directorate European Research Area of the European Commission that aims to contribute to the creation of a common strategic vision on responsible biometric innovation among the main international players, will address the issue of biometric security in a global perspective

  • Government plan for consolidated online ID unveiled

    Last Friday President Obama unveiled a plan to establish federal standards to create consolidated secure online passwords; the ultimate goal of National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) is to create a more secure environment for online transactions where users only have to register once and can use a common password for multiple sites; NSTIC lays out the industry standards and technology policies around the new authentication methods but leaves the development and deployment of the technology entirely in the hands of the private sector to avoid the establishment of a government-led national ID; privacy advocates worry that it could create an environment where authentication is increasingly required

  • Brazilian police get biometric "Robocop" glasses

    Facial-recognition glasses have been deployed by Brazilian police ahead of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament; the system can scan and compare four hundred faces per second using 46,000 biometric points for comparison; the technology will be tested at public events leading up to the World Cup

  • FBI's Next Generation Identification launched

    The FBI has launched its futuristic database — the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system); NGI will gradually replace the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS); this phase of the NGI project involves the core biometric processing and matching capability using ten fingerprints

  • New York proposes biometric IDs to combat Medicaid fraud

    New York lawmakers are currently considering a bill that is aimed at reducing Medicaid fraud by requiring all patients to carry biometric ID cards; under the proposed law all Medicaid recipients would receive a special card that contains their biometric data from a palm scan that must be presented to receive service; installing the card readers and issuing the identity cards would cost an estimated $20 million, but could result in as much as a $5 billion reduction in Medicaid fraud each year; the legislation could set off a debate about privacy concerns

  • New method for lifting latent fingerprints

    A team of researchers at Nanjing University of Technology has developed a new process for especially rapid and simple detection of fingerprints; all it takes is a special nanofiber mat that is pressed onto the suspect surface and briefly treated with hot air — the fingerprints appear as red ridge patterns

  • Iris recognition on the go

    Hoyos showed its iris-recognition-on-the-go solution at ISC West last week; most iris recognition solution require the persons to be identified to stand still and stare into a panel for a couple of seconds; the Hoyos solution allows people, after the initial enrollment, to just walk through a gate or a door; the iris scanner is mounted at the top of the frame, and it can recognize up to fifty individuals a minute as they walk through; individuals wearing glasses enroll without their glasses on, but once enrolled, they can walk through the door with their glasses on without disrupting the system’s recognition process

  • Anti-counterfeiting solution maker expands scientific teams

    According to a 2011 report published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), global counterfeiting losses are forecasted to grow to as high as $1.7 trillion by 2017; the economic impact of this on the U.S. economy alone is estimated to be $775 billion per year; there is thus a growing demand for anti-counterfeiting solutions, including SigNature® DNA from Applied DNA Sciences; the company is expanding its forensic scientific group

  • Researchers developing biometric intent scanners

    Researchers with the Canadian defense department are currently exploring how to analyze an individual’s hostile intent to intercept them before they commit a hostile act; researchers with the Canadian Defense Research and Development aim to push biometric identification to a new level where scanning technology can actually read peoples’ minds; researchers are hoping to use the “biometrics of intent” to distinguish if an individual who appears nervous and is pacing at an airport is simply anxious or actually dangerous; scientists say the goal is difficult, but not impossible; they are still far from achieving their goals and research is in its early phases

  • Identical twins -- the ultimate test for biometrics

    Researchers recently concluded that facial biometric technologies were not accurate enough to distinguish between pairs of identical twins; researchers took photos of over 126 pairs of identical twins in a variety of conditions of varying quality to provide different test conditions for biometric scanners; the photos were tested against three of the highest performing facial recognition and found that under real world circumstances the systems could not accurately distinguish twins; researchers recommend calibrating facial recognition algorithms to analyze minute facial characteristics as well as high-resolution photos to increase accuracy

  • Biometric industry becomes increasingly consolidated

    As the biometrics market continues to expand, larger firms have begun to acquire smaller companies that are developing cutting edge technology; analysts believe that the industry will become increasingly consolidated in the next three to five years; several key biometrics firms were recently acquired in major deals; L-1 Identity Solutions was acquired by Safran, Cogent Systems was bought by 3M, and ActivIdentity announced that it would become a part of Assa Abloy