Biometrics

Missouri mathematicians make progress on 'cocktail party problem'
Ability to distinguish between voices in crowded room a boon for criminal surveillance; science now needs practical application
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BearingPoint in $104 million HSPD-12 contract
Company will provide end-to-end services; smaller agencies seen to benefit from scale; 30 August deadline to order HSPD-related services through Fedral Acquisition Service looms
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Utility and telecom industries press government for national identification cards
Industries want immediate access to emergency sites; interoperability with FIPS-201-1 a critical issue
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DHS announces delay in TWIC implementation for maritime and port workers
Problem caused by compliance with FIPS 201 standard; required card-swipe readers vulnerable to saltwater corrosion; delay to last at least six months
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Lockheed wins proof-of-contract to implement biometric identification system at Health and Human Services
The BioUnique Identity Management System will enroll 1,000 employees at four locations; fully encrypted system relies on Automatic Fingerprint Identification System developed for the FBI; HHS moves toward HSPD-12 compliance
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Innovative chip architecture allows fast, automatic voice recognition
Government security agencies are engaged in ever-more-expansive data mining operations; as more voice and video digital media goes online, there is a growing challenge of how to search these live streams effectively; the audio mining problem is especially acute in homeland security applications which need to expedite translations of huge streams of incoming data, sifting for a few critical words or phrases
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BioPassword's innovative keystoke technology solution offers another level of security
There are many biometric products out there, but this innovative technology is different; it requires no biological information and no hardware to install, rather it is all about how you behave
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DHS launches information-sharing program with states
More information should lead to more effective law enforcement, and DHS next month will begin to share some of the information in its files with the states; first will be the personal and biometric information collected from travelers in the US-VISIT program; DHS also said that the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. reached 11 million
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Probaris helps SSA to come into HSPD-12 compliance
Federal agencies and contractors working with these agencies have until 27 October to comply with various HSPD-12 mandates, chief among them FIPS-201; the SSA is no exception, and it is relying on Probaris for help
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Low-power wireless intelligent sensor technology
Two companies combine their specialties in a NASA-sponsored project to produce low-power wireless intelligent sensor technology capable of delivering remote fingerprint authentication, intrusion detection, light, temperature, and vibration sensors over satellite communication
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States to DHS: Either fund the Real ID Act, or drop it
Congress gave states a May 2008 deadline to equip their citizens with driver’s licenses with biometric information and RFID techonlogy; U.S. citizens without such licneses will not be able to enter federal buildings, open bank accounts, or purchase airline tickets; states balk at the cost of the project, telling the federal government to fund it or drop it
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British government loses nearly 25,000 security passes
Fueling fears about the government’s ability to protect sensitive sites, the [i]Scotsman[/i] reports that 24,500 passes have been lost, mainly by the military
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Porticus Technology introduces voice authentication for interactive voice response systems
New product is meant to authenticate mobile transactions, allow remote network access, and assist in pending two-factor authentication rules for online banking
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Union files protest against biometric time-clock
Claiming that having to punch a time-clock is demoralizing and a change in the conditions of employment, union officials in Long Island City filed a protest against the city government’s use of Ingersoll Rand’s Hand Punch 4000
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Brown floats plan allowing stores access to government biometric database
All but defeated, the U.K. biometric ID program gets new life as head of the British Treasury, Gordon Brown not only advocates the program, but wants to expand it; Brown, formerly in opposition to the biometric scheme is expected to be the next Prime Minister, chiefly because there are no other foreseeable candidates
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