- Email: [email protected]
Gold star for biometrics
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NEWS
Copyright Notice This newsletter and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Science Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; tel: +44 (0)1865 843830, fax: +44 (0)1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@ elsevier.com. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http://www.elsevier.nl), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then ‘Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; tel: 978 7508400, fax: +1 978 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; tel: +44 (0) 171 436 5931; fax: +44 (0)171 436 3986. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02265 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Ltd.
2
...continued from back page Fingerprints will be compared with fingerprint data transmitted by other participating countries and already stored in a central database. If Eurodac reveals that those fingerprints have already been recorded, the asylum seeker will be returned to the country where their fingerprints were originally recorded. Access to this system is restricted and does not contain any personal details such as the name of a person, but relies only on biometric comparison. By 2004, the centrally-held database is expected to contain around two million immigration applicants. The main system was designed by Cogent Systems, while the fingerprint image transmission technology comes from Steria. The system cost has been reported as 6.5 million for the central systems. European Union member states process approximately 400,000 requests for asylum every year at a cost of 5000 per application. The Commission estimates somewhere in the region of 20% of claims are multiple. The European Commission set up Eurodac within a very short timeframe (two years after the adoption of the Regulation) and will operate the system on behalf of each participating country. Eurodac consists of a Central Unit within the Commission, which is equipped with a fully automated, computerised central database for comparing the fingerprints of asylum applicants, and a system for electronic data transmission between participating countries and the Central Unit.
standards
BioAPI releases beta version for Unix/Linux platforms The BioAPI Consortium has released a beta version of the BioAPI Linux/Unix reference implementation software. Once it is given the all clear by BioAPI members (or anyone else on request) it will be released to the general public on a royalty-free basis. According to Cathy Tilton, chair of the BioAPI Consortium: “The release for testing of this beta version of the BioAPI Linux/Unix Reference Implementation software is a crucial milestone in the history of BioAPI. One of the main strengths of the BioAPI Specification is that it is an open, platform independent standard. The availability of the BioAPI for Linux and Unix platforms as well as the
availability of the previous Win32 version of the Reference Implementation proves this and will greatly affect the availability of biometric solutions for heterogeneous systems.” The harmonised version of the reference implementation was made possible thanks to work by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the International Biometric Group. The team collaborated to ‘port’ the existing Windows implementation to execute on either Linux or Sun Solaris platforms, effectively broadening the available applications and environments for standards-based biometric systems. The software is easily adaptable to able to handle other Unix systems such as BSD, HPUX or AIX, the team claims, although this will be a future development. Version 1.1 of the BioAPI Specification and the associated Win32 Reference Implementation software were released in March 2001 and are both freely available for download from the BioAPI Consortium’s website (www.bioapi.org). Contact: Cathy Tilton at Saflink, Tel: +1 703 708 9280, email: [email protected]
education
Gold star for biometrics The education market is proving to be a good hunting ground for biometric technology suppliers of all disciplines. In particular the UK and US market have seen a lot of activity in recent months with hand geometry, iris recognition and fingerprint technology used for a multitude of reasons. In the USA, hand geometry is being used in a trial to allow students access to a residence hall at the West Virginia University. The supplier on the project is Diebold, which is using a system developed by Recognition Systems. It is expected that the system will be extended for use in the University’s Student Recreation Centre later in the year. Meanwhile, children attending a new school in Sunderland, UK, will use an iris recognition system to pay for meals or take out library books. According to the head teacher at the new £14.5 million Venerable Bede Church of England Aided School, due to open in September 2003, trained technicians will scan up to 12 students per minute during lunchtime. Also in the UK are two projects using fingerprint recognition. Morriston Comprehensive School in Swansea, Wales, is implementing the technology to keep a tab on students taking out library books, while more
Biometric Technology Today • February 2003
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NEWS than 1000 pupils at Camden Community School have been scanned to enable them to use computer resources at Camden City Learning Centre. Over 220 keyboards have been equipped with fingerprint readers supplied by Informer Systems Limited. There are often concerns surrounding the technical ability of biometrics to deal with younger people. This was certainly true at Camden Community School, where the student’s ages ranged from 11 to 18. Initially the sensors could not read a small proportion of young students’ fingerprints because of the narrowness of their fingers. However, this problem was solved once ISL re-calibrated the system. According to ISL the algorithm used by its software, SentriNET, measures the distance between fixed points on the fingerprint. Although a child’s finger might grow, the ratios between the points will remain the same, so the sensor will continue to recognise the fingerprint.
hand geometry
UK airport gets a helping hand to maximise security Staff at Manchester Airport in the UK will be testing a new hand geometry reader instead of swipe cards and door codes to access administrative areas on the airport site. The aim is to gauge the effectiveness of biometric security measures and is part of the airport’s ongoing commitment to maximise security for staff and passengers, while also providing a more convenient means of access by eliminating swipe cards and the need to remember numerous different door codes. The trial, using Recognition Systems’ technology, is being run in conjunction with Human Recognition Systems, a UK-based company specialising in a range of biometric technologies. Just over 60 staff members – including Manchester Airport chairman councillor Brian Harrison – will trial the technology until 14 February 2003. Harrison said: “This trial is a very exciting step forward for us, although there are a number of issues to consider before introducing such measures on a permanent basis or rolling them out across the airport. We will be listening very carefully to our staff ’s views on the matter while assessing the results of the trial.” Manchester Airport is the UK’s busiest regional airport, with direct flights to 170 destinations worldwide. Meanwhile, WHSmith, the best-known UK stationer and bookseller, has chosen HRS Security Solutions, a division of Human
Biometric Technology Today • February 2003
Recognition Systems, to biometrically secure its server, telecommunications and IT stock room at the head office in Swindon. HRS Security Solutions are to install HandKey II hand readers to enhance the physical access control procedures on the site. Contact: Neil Norman at Human Recognition Systems, Tel: +44 151 254 2888, Fax: +44 151 254 2999, email: [email protected]
testing
Testing reveals ongoing improvements by suppliers The latest round of biometric testing by the International Biometric Group (IBG) has shown that the technology continues its dramatic year-on-year performance improvement, but that there is still a variance in performance metrics at different security thresholds. According to IBG, the data underscores the fact that while biometric technology is a highly effective security tool, end users need to understand in detail the differences between products and also the impact of thresholds and enrollment procedures. The test results showed that: • failure-to-enroll rates ranged from 0% to nearly 12%; • false match rates ranged from 0% to nearly 1.5%; • initial false non-match rates ranged from 0% to more than 7%; • six weeks later, false non-match rates ranged from less than 1% to more than 30%. The testing began in August 2002 and included technology from: Bioscrypt, DigitalPersona, Fujitsu, Identix, Indivos, Iridian, Nuance, Recognition Systems, Siemens, STMicroelectronics and Ultra-Scan. Samir Nanvati, partner at IBG told Btt: “Going back to 1998, when our tests began, there has been a dramatic year-on-year improvement in the technologies we’ve tested in our annual tests. This holds true for all the metrics, including FAR, FRR and FTE. For those who deemed biometrics as not ready for deployment in their applications in the past, the technology now merits reconsideration.” IBG could not give more detailed results information as the report costs US$37,000 to purchase. Assuming the report is purchased in advance of the tests, this price allows the buyer to nominate a technology to be tested. This round of tests was sponsored by Microsoft, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, Financial Services
Product news • Sony has announced that its FIU600 fingerprint identification unit will support the Mac OS X 10.2 operating system and higher. Meanwhile Apple has introduced a number of authentication features in the operating system, making it suitable for the solution. The USB hardware portion of the solution is complete, while the software is being developed with a beta version already available. The hardware device, rather than the operating system, will perform fingerprint template storage and matching. • DigitalPersona has announced its new fingerprint scanner – the Model 4000. According to the supplier, the lightweight device measures 3 inches in length, 2 inches in width and is 5/8 inches thick. The devices are now shipping with all of its U.are.U Pro enterprise products – including U.are.U Pro for Active Directory. The typical price for the scanner together with the U.are.U Pro workstation packages is US$149 per desktop, although the scanner is also available separately to developers of biometrics solutions. • Biometric Security Card has announced the general availability of BioProtect Release 2.0. This second release includes performance enhancements (through accommodation of a wider range of finger positioning) and BioAPI compatibility. The new release will also include support for encryption/decryption of the biometric template and biometric image logging. The supplier says its BioProtect algorithms can process most biometric images including fingerprint, iris and retina and can record fingerprint biometrics in a 64 byte biometric template. • ActivCard has launched Trinity, a sign-on solution that integrates most authentication methods including biometrics.
3
06/02/2003
10:45
Page 2
NEWS
Copyright Notice This newsletter and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Science Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; tel: +44 (0)1865 843830, fax: +44 (0)1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@ elsevier.com. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http://www.elsevier.nl), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then ‘Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; tel: 978 7508400, fax: +1 978 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; tel: +44 (0) 171 436 5931; fax: +44 (0)171 436 3986. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02265 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Ltd.
2
...continued from back page Fingerprints will be compared with fingerprint data transmitted by other participating countries and already stored in a central database. If Eurodac reveals that those fingerprints have already been recorded, the asylum seeker will be returned to the country where their fingerprints were originally recorded. Access to this system is restricted and does not contain any personal details such as the name of a person, but relies only on biometric comparison. By 2004, the centrally-held database is expected to contain around two million immigration applicants. The main system was designed by Cogent Systems, while the fingerprint image transmission technology comes from Steria. The system cost has been reported as 6.5 million for the central systems. European Union member states process approximately 400,000 requests for asylum every year at a cost of 5000 per application. The Commission estimates somewhere in the region of 20% of claims are multiple. The European Commission set up Eurodac within a very short timeframe (two years after the adoption of the Regulation) and will operate the system on behalf of each participating country. Eurodac consists of a Central Unit within the Commission, which is equipped with a fully automated, computerised central database for comparing the fingerprints of asylum applicants, and a system for electronic data transmission between participating countries and the Central Unit.
standards
BioAPI releases beta version for Unix/Linux platforms The BioAPI Consortium has released a beta version of the BioAPI Linux/Unix reference implementation software. Once it is given the all clear by BioAPI members (or anyone else on request) it will be released to the general public on a royalty-free basis. According to Cathy Tilton, chair of the BioAPI Consortium: “The release for testing of this beta version of the BioAPI Linux/Unix Reference Implementation software is a crucial milestone in the history of BioAPI. One of the main strengths of the BioAPI Specification is that it is an open, platform independent standard. The availability of the BioAPI for Linux and Unix platforms as well as the
availability of the previous Win32 version of the Reference Implementation proves this and will greatly affect the availability of biometric solutions for heterogeneous systems.” The harmonised version of the reference implementation was made possible thanks to work by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the International Biometric Group. The team collaborated to ‘port’ the existing Windows implementation to execute on either Linux or Sun Solaris platforms, effectively broadening the available applications and environments for standards-based biometric systems. The software is easily adaptable to able to handle other Unix systems such as BSD, HPUX or AIX, the team claims, although this will be a future development. Version 1.1 of the BioAPI Specification and the associated Win32 Reference Implementation software were released in March 2001 and are both freely available for download from the BioAPI Consortium’s website (www.bioapi.org). Contact: Cathy Tilton at Saflink, Tel: +1 703 708 9280, email: [email protected]
education
Gold star for biometrics The education market is proving to be a good hunting ground for biometric technology suppliers of all disciplines. In particular the UK and US market have seen a lot of activity in recent months with hand geometry, iris recognition and fingerprint technology used for a multitude of reasons. In the USA, hand geometry is being used in a trial to allow students access to a residence hall at the West Virginia University. The supplier on the project is Diebold, which is using a system developed by Recognition Systems. It is expected that the system will be extended for use in the University’s Student Recreation Centre later in the year. Meanwhile, children attending a new school in Sunderland, UK, will use an iris recognition system to pay for meals or take out library books. According to the head teacher at the new £14.5 million Venerable Bede Church of England Aided School, due to open in September 2003, trained technicians will scan up to 12 students per minute during lunchtime. Also in the UK are two projects using fingerprint recognition. Morriston Comprehensive School in Swansea, Wales, is implementing the technology to keep a tab on students taking out library books, while more
Biometric Technology Today • February 2003
btt february.qxd
06/02/2003
10:45
Page 3
NEWS than 1000 pupils at Camden Community School have been scanned to enable them to use computer resources at Camden City Learning Centre. Over 220 keyboards have been equipped with fingerprint readers supplied by Informer Systems Limited. There are often concerns surrounding the technical ability of biometrics to deal with younger people. This was certainly true at Camden Community School, where the student’s ages ranged from 11 to 18. Initially the sensors could not read a small proportion of young students’ fingerprints because of the narrowness of their fingers. However, this problem was solved once ISL re-calibrated the system. According to ISL the algorithm used by its software, SentriNET, measures the distance between fixed points on the fingerprint. Although a child’s finger might grow, the ratios between the points will remain the same, so the sensor will continue to recognise the fingerprint.
hand geometry
UK airport gets a helping hand to maximise security Staff at Manchester Airport in the UK will be testing a new hand geometry reader instead of swipe cards and door codes to access administrative areas on the airport site. The aim is to gauge the effectiveness of biometric security measures and is part of the airport’s ongoing commitment to maximise security for staff and passengers, while also providing a more convenient means of access by eliminating swipe cards and the need to remember numerous different door codes. The trial, using Recognition Systems’ technology, is being run in conjunction with Human Recognition Systems, a UK-based company specialising in a range of biometric technologies. Just over 60 staff members – including Manchester Airport chairman councillor Brian Harrison – will trial the technology until 14 February 2003. Harrison said: “This trial is a very exciting step forward for us, although there are a number of issues to consider before introducing such measures on a permanent basis or rolling them out across the airport. We will be listening very carefully to our staff ’s views on the matter while assessing the results of the trial.” Manchester Airport is the UK’s busiest regional airport, with direct flights to 170 destinations worldwide. Meanwhile, WHSmith, the best-known UK stationer and bookseller, has chosen HRS Security Solutions, a division of Human
Biometric Technology Today • February 2003
Recognition Systems, to biometrically secure its server, telecommunications and IT stock room at the head office in Swindon. HRS Security Solutions are to install HandKey II hand readers to enhance the physical access control procedures on the site. Contact: Neil Norman at Human Recognition Systems, Tel: +44 151 254 2888, Fax: +44 151 254 2999, email: [email protected]
testing
Testing reveals ongoing improvements by suppliers The latest round of biometric testing by the International Biometric Group (IBG) has shown that the technology continues its dramatic year-on-year performance improvement, but that there is still a variance in performance metrics at different security thresholds. According to IBG, the data underscores the fact that while biometric technology is a highly effective security tool, end users need to understand in detail the differences between products and also the impact of thresholds and enrollment procedures. The test results showed that: • failure-to-enroll rates ranged from 0% to nearly 12%; • false match rates ranged from 0% to nearly 1.5%; • initial false non-match rates ranged from 0% to more than 7%; • six weeks later, false non-match rates ranged from less than 1% to more than 30%. The testing began in August 2002 and included technology from: Bioscrypt, DigitalPersona, Fujitsu, Identix, Indivos, Iridian, Nuance, Recognition Systems, Siemens, STMicroelectronics and Ultra-Scan. Samir Nanvati, partner at IBG told Btt: “Going back to 1998, when our tests began, there has been a dramatic year-on-year improvement in the technologies we’ve tested in our annual tests. This holds true for all the metrics, including FAR, FRR and FTE. For those who deemed biometrics as not ready for deployment in their applications in the past, the technology now merits reconsideration.” IBG could not give more detailed results information as the report costs US$37,000 to purchase. Assuming the report is purchased in advance of the tests, this price allows the buyer to nominate a technology to be tested. This round of tests was sponsored by Microsoft, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, Financial Services
Product news • Sony has announced that its FIU600 fingerprint identification unit will support the Mac OS X 10.2 operating system and higher. Meanwhile Apple has introduced a number of authentication features in the operating system, making it suitable for the solution. The USB hardware portion of the solution is complete, while the software is being developed with a beta version already available. The hardware device, rather than the operating system, will perform fingerprint template storage and matching. • DigitalPersona has announced its new fingerprint scanner – the Model 4000. According to the supplier, the lightweight device measures 3 inches in length, 2 inches in width and is 5/8 inches thick. The devices are now shipping with all of its U.are.U Pro enterprise products – including U.are.U Pro for Active Directory. The typical price for the scanner together with the U.are.U Pro workstation packages is US$149 per desktop, although the scanner is also available separately to developers of biometrics solutions. • Biometric Security Card has announced the general availability of BioProtect Release 2.0. This second release includes performance enhancements (through accommodation of a wider range of finger positioning) and BioAPI compatibility. The new release will also include support for encryption/decryption of the biometric template and biometric image logging. The supplier says its BioProtect algorithms can process most biometric images including fingerprint, iris and retina and can record fingerprint biometrics in a 64 byte biometric template. • ActivCard has launched Trinity, a sign-on solution that integrates most authentication methods including biometrics.
3