Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Experts warn biometric standards may be too lenient

Monday, October 13, 2008

Experts such as David Chadwick, a senior solutions advisor for Identity and Biometrics for Unisys as well as a member of the Technical Committee in the Biometrics Institute, warns that while current biometric standards are a good base for functional operation, developers should be aiming to surpass them, according to a ZD Net Asia article.

Specifically Chadwick draws attention to facial biometrics standards requiring a minimum of 640x480 pixel ratio that leaves many details unable to be detected.


Chadwick says this may not be an obstacle for some proprietary system, but it may impedes many other possible uses for the systems. For example, forensic comparisons of facial data for court proceedings are not able to be completed at the low pixel rate. As a simple fix to the situation, Chadwick suggests a pixel rate of roughly 1600x1200 as it ought to fit most users’ bandwidth requirements while allowing for very detailed imaging.

Read the full story here [end] 

Biometric e-passports with fingerprint data included, both tested and certified by FIME, are now being issued by the Russian Migration Service.

Appointed by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise, Scientific and Technical Centre, STC Atlas, FIME provided official testing and certification services throughout the development of the machine readable travel documents.

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Key Source International announced GSA approval for it’s biometric keyboard and stand-alone biometric pod. KSI products are approved under FIPS 201 for Federal Employees and civilian contractors.

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ScaleMatrix integrated biometrics into various levels of access in its San Diego-based cloud data center, reports Security Info Watch, giving it added security for its clients.

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3M Cogent announced that the U.S. General Services Administration, in accordance with FIPS 201, has certified its MiY-ID Gov biometric access control reader as an approved biometric authentication system standard.

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The European Association for Biometrics (EAB) is focusing on a goal of driving the research and development of biometrics and building the future of the industry around a concern for end-user privacy protection.

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed and published a new protocol for devices to capture biometric data wirelessly and securely using Web services.

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