Biometrics

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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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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