• Breakthrough: Reading fingerprints even after they are gone

    The name is Bond, John Bond (of Leicester University, that is): Researchers at Leicester develop a fingerprints visualization technique which would allow reading a fingerprint even after the print itself has been removed; new method would allow solving decade-old unsolved cases

  • Biometrics not yet ready for banking transactions

    Security expert: Biometrics plays a role in banking and financial institutions — but until 2016 or so, it should be used mostly to add a third security factor to existing chip and PIN systems

  • ID-protection ads come back to bite pitchman

    Todd Davis created a company which, he claimed, offered customers an iron-clad guarantee that their identity could not be stolen; to prove his point, ads for his fraud-prevention company, LifeLock, even offered his Social Security number next to his smiling mug; trouble is, a man in Texas did succeed in stealing Davis’s identity and used it to get a loan; now customers are suing

  • Problems plague worker ID program

    The TWIC program is being rolled out, but long lines at enrollment centers, jammed phones, redundant background checks, and paperwork slow the process down

  • WorkLight says RSA chief's observations ring true

    RSA boss Art Coviello offers his insights on Web security, saying that hackers are developing plans to attack healthcare providers as their revenue streams from the financial services sector start to dry up; Coveillo also says that biometric technology is not a solution for IT security – at least so far

  • An HSDW conversation with John Stroia, vice president, Government Security and Monitoring Solutions, Diebold

    Diebold has been adding “layers of protection” to its customers since 1859; Diebold provides one-stop shopping for technology-based electronic systems, software, and services, and the company is active in all four major security markets: financial; commercial (retail); enterprise (large corporations); and government

  • IBM joins Next Generation Identification (NGI) system team

    NGI, the FBI’s new multi-modal, state-of-the-art biometrics system to be used by state, local, and federal authorities, will store fingerprints, palm prints, iris, and facial recognition information; it will accommodate other biometric modalities as they mature

  • NTT shows commercial RedTaction security system

    NTT shows Firmo, a Human Area Network (HAN)-based system which uses the surface of the human body for communication; the Firmo Kit is used as an alternative to short-range wireless security card entrance/exit systems

  • Electronic "pets" to tackle identity theft problem

    Forget passwords, PINs, or even biometric security measures; a new, if futuristic, solution is offered for the problem of identity theft: Electronic pets; the pets would recognize their owners’ voiceprint, fingerprints, or walking style; researchers say it will be important for owners to bond with and nourish their electronic pets by playing with them

  • U.K. government developing London Olympics ID card

    The U.K. will host the 2012 Summer Olympic games, and the government is in the process of developing what it describes as a “pretty inclusive and far-reaching” Olympics accreditation card

  • National ID projects drive Asian biometrics market growth

    National ID and e-passport programs drive growth of biometric market in Asia; fingerprinting remains the preferred biometric technology

  • Facial recognition scans to be deployed in U.K. this summer

    U.K. government plans to deploy facial recognition scanners at U.K. airport this summer; scanner will allow for automatic security checks at gates

  • DHS proposes biometric airport and seaport exit procedures

    Moving to implement one more recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, DHS announces that by 30 June 2009 all visitors leaving the United States will have their biometric details taken and recorded

  • California passes smart-gun law

    Several companies are now working on embedding palm biometrics security mechanism in guns: The gun grip will store the image of the owner’s palm, and the gun will unlock only if the image of the palm holding the gun matches the stored image; California wants this mechanism in all guns sold in the state

  • Scholar: More biometrics means more freedom

    Irish scholar researching the history of biometrics and its current uses says that contrary to fears about invasion of privacy, the use of biometrics will lead to enhanced freedom (except for those who try to assume false identities)