Biometrics

Debate ends on using fractal analysis for authenticating art
There was a time when museums and art historians thought that fractal analysis could be used to authenticate works of art; In a symposium tomorrow, scientists and art experts will admit that this cannot be done; some say it is a good thing, too: “I think it is more appealing that Pollock’s work cannot be reduced to a set of numbers with a certain mean and certain standard deviation,” said one researcher
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Is biometrics ready for prime time?
The debate over a national biometric ID in the U.K. intensifies in the wake of revelations that the government has lost discs with the personal records of some 25 million Britons
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Ten-fingerprint program for visitors to U.S. begins Thursday
Washington’s Dulles Airport on Thursday will begin a new DHS scheme to acquire ten fingerprints from each visitor to the United States; system will be implemented at all land crossings by end of 2008
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DHS faces difficulties in enforcing immigration laws
Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, so states stepped forward to fill the void; the result: 1,400 pieces of immigration-related legislation introduced in state capitols across the country this year, many contradictory
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Biometrics meet mobile phone technology
Indian company develops a remote monitor of access and attendance by combining biometric, RFID, and GSM technologies
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U.S. grants record number of student visas
After a steady, post-9/11 decline in the number of foreign students coming to study in the United States, 2007 marks a turning point: The Department of State has granted of 651,000 student and exchange visitor visas — 10 percent more than in 2006 and 90,000 more than were issued in Fiscal Year 2001
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DHS says its biometric-at-sea trial is a success
Coast Guard completes 12-months trial of technology which captures fingerprints digitally from illegal migrants apprehended at sea; Coast Guard then uses satellite technology to compare the migrant information against US VISIT’s data
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Laser fingerprint scanner does away with dusting
Breakthrough in finger printing: Indian scientists develop a laser-based finger printing device; devices uses optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is often described as an optical version of ultrasound imaging
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Sender ID vs encryption, I
Fighting spam requires authenticating e-mail addresses on the fly; Microsoft-backed Sender ID battles with encryption-based schemes for adoption by enterprises
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U.K. says cost of biometric ID scheme less than expected
In May the U.K. government said the cost of the national biometric ID scheme would be £5.75 billion over 10 years; now it says the cost would be £5.612 billion over the same period; main reason given is the expectation that fewer passports would be applied for
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Two companies target underbanked consumers
U.S. Biometrics, VALID Systems say there are more than 80 million underbanked consumers in the U.S., and that the potential of this segment of the market is yet to be realized; both now join in trying to do so
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DHS relaxes, backs off some Real ID requirements
In the face of persistent opposition from the states, DHS relaxes or backs off some provisions of Real ID, and extends deadlines for compliance; critics say this back-pedaling is but an attempt to deny that Real ID is dying
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Global biometric industry to witness robust growth
Global biometric industry to grow at a CAGR of over 24 percent between 2007 and 2010
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U.S. terror watch list balloons to 860,000 names
On the day after 9/11, U.S. terror watch list had 20 names on it; today it has 860,000; it is growing at a rate of 20,00 a month; the FBI has removed 100,000 names from the list, but additions outpace deletions; experts say list is unwieldy, and not very useful
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Specialist in testing acces control procedures has more clients
Businesses hire TraceSecurity to send operatives over, unannounced, to test how safe and reliable access control procedures are; too many of these businesses find that their security procedures can be easily overcome
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