Biometrics

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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New York State DMV shows off new equipment
The storm over Governor Elliot Spitzer’s plan to offer driver licenses to illegal aliens notwithstanding, New York state is moving forward on making the process of getting a driver license more secure
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TWIC inches forward, but legislators criticize missed deadlines
Employees at Wilmington, Delaware port were the first to enroll in TWIC last month; this month, employees in eleven additional ports will begin enrollment; still, program delays are met with a bipartisan chorus of criticism on the Hill
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New approach to authentication promises security, simplicity
A U.S. start-up offers a simple but effective way to authenticate individuals: Labeled squares on a grid; each time the user is required to authenticate, they would be presented with the grid in which each square was labeled
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China to become world's largest electronic authentication service market
China’s electronic authentication service industry is a late comer to the space, but as is the case with many other components of the Chinese economy, the industry will soon become world leader
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Biometrics put new eye on terrorists
U.S. military develops portable, light-weight biometric tool set allowing for collecting biometric information from suspects on the fly — and quickly comparing it to existing database
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Japan begins to fingerprint, take pictures of foreigners entering country
As of 20 November, all foreigners entering Japan will be fingerprinted and their photographs taken and stored; resident foreigners will also be subject to the new requirement
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Government increases spending on identity verification; start-ups to benefit
The U.S. government is well behind several deadlines and security goals regarding identity verification, and it will outsource much of the work to contractors; these contractors will be looking to acquire start-ups in areas such as smart cards, biometrics, RFID, and speech recognition
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Fingerprint system fails to identify black-listed soccer fans
Dutch researchers test the reliability of finger print biometrics by placing finger print scanner at three Dutch soccer stadiums for the purpose of identifying more than 6,000 “black listed” volunteers; the fingerprint system failed to spot 15 percent to 20 percent of those on a volunteer black-list
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