Two counterfeiting detection specialists in cooperation agreement

As worries about identity theft and counterfeiting of all types grow, so is the interest in solutions aimed to thwart such nefarious schemes. Lake Worth, Florida-based Graphic Security Systems (GSSC) and Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Aven signed a technical cooperation agreement to offer an innovative and effective tool for counterfeit detection with today’s digital systems in mind. Aven is a manufacturer of the iLoupe series, a digital camera attachment which functions as a digital portable field microscope. GSSC offers anticounterfeiting technologies in the field of document security and brand protection. Aven and GSSC designed a special version of iLoupe, called the iDetector, to capture images of security UV inks on products and documents. GSSC’s proprietary software can analyze these images and extract authentication information from them, including UV printed symbologies such as data matrix barcodes. UV images and authentication results can be stored in a database with a local or web interface, together with a date and time stamp for legal documentation. The technical cooperation of these two companies will bring to law enforcement and other agencies a portable forensic tool enabling digital authentication of a variety of security features which are already embedded in currency, passports, travel documents, and more.

Note that GSSC has also used the iDetector in its Stealth SI system. Unlike UV inks, the Stealth SI system uses the SI technology, which is a covert digital security feature that provides enhanced counterfeit resistance by encoding data directly on a products’ or documents’ surface or packaging. The encoded data is captured by the iDetector and decoded using GSSC’s patent pending digital decoding software. This software can be provided on a server or as a stand-alone unit.