Omni News
Sagem unveils TWIC biometric and ID reader
(source= ContactlessNews) Sagem Morpho Inc. introduced the MorphoAccess 521 TWIC biometric reader, a smart card access device to meet Transportation Security Administration implementation requirements for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program. The MA521 TWIC is designed to read encrypted biometric data, such as a digital fingerprint, perform the match to the cardholder and perform an active card authentication across a contactless interface. To gain access to a secure port facility, the worker will hold his or her TWIC card up to the contactless interface on the reader. Depending on the security level at the port credential holders may have to do different things. At the lowest security level the reader will first read the cardholder ID to verify that the card is authentic, unaltered and active.
Insurers Target Single Sign-On Capabilities
(source= financeTech) While single signon technology has been recognized as a worthy goal in insurance technology circles for several years now, a quick scan of the industry still yields little evidence of centralized depositories for user IDs and logons that consolidate the number of passwords that an employee, business partner or customer needs to access a carriers systems. Its been a big topic for a number of years, and I think its a utopia that hasnt been reached yet in many instances, according to Mike Barba, manager, business consulting, at SMART Business Advisory and Consulting, a Devon, Pa.based firm with expertise in areas including enterprise risk management, regulatory accounting and claims management. A lot of people will claim they have single signon, when in reality they do have local databases of users that they still need to manage, he adds. In many ways, single signon (SSO) does represent a sort of utopia. Its benefits are farreaching. From a security standpoint, SSO can eliminate the alltoocommon sticky note approach to identity management that has been.....
EU: New Call for Papers open: eID, Interoperability and Open Source
(source= EU) The European Commissions eGovernment Action Plan considers innovations in eIdentification, interoperability and Open Source Software to be eGovernments key enablers. Will these initiatives make possible the efficient and correct operation of public administration eServices? What does the evidence suggest? The European Journal of ePractice looks contributions on eID, Interoperability and Open Source. The deadline for submissions is 1 October, 2008.
ITCS Announces the ITCS-WebClock Mobile Time and Attendance Solutions
(source= Forbes) IT Computing Services, Inc. (ITCS), a leading provider of Web Based Time and Attendance Systems, announced the immediate availability of the ITCSWebClock Mobile Solutions. ITCSWebClock is a Web Based Time and Attendance solutions offered as a SaaS solution (Software as a Service) or installed locally. Perfect for multiple locations or to reduce IT infrastructure costs. Several Mobile features are available for collecting time and attendance data. Features are: Cell Phone Punch through the basic cell phone web browser. Dial a Punch through the Telephone and Key Pad. Web Enabled PDAs with a browser interface. Laptop computers on the Cellular Wireless Networks. Also, the web browser from a computer, biometric and badge time clocks. The above mobile features integrate with the ITCSWebClock web based functionality for managers and administrators. This includes data integration with the Job Costing and Location Tracking modules.
Nursery school chain installs fingerprint entry system
(source= ComputerWeekly) A £500,000 biometric fingerprint entry security system is to be installed at the Busy Bees childrens nurseries chain. The system from UK Biometrics will allow parents and carers easy access to the nurseries while ensuring unauthorised people cannot gain entry. UK Biometrics has been trialling the system at 14 Busy Bees nurseries for more than a year. The new biometric locks allow Busy Bees personnel to register parents and carers fingerprints in seconds. Once registered, parents press their fingerprint onto a sensor pad at the door and gain immediate entry. Unregistered visitors ring the bell and wait for a member of staff to admit them. The new system will allow staff to spend more time with the children at busy dropoff and collection times, rather than answering the door to parents.
Aladdin and IdenTrust team on online banking security
(source= Finextra) Aladdin Knowledge Systems an information security leader specializing in authentication, software DRM and content security, today announced a partnership with IdenTrust, who possesses the only global bankcentric identity network, to provide identity authentication solutions for secure online banking and financial transactions. Aladdin and IdenTrust are collaborating to offer certificatebased twofactor authentication for unmatched security, enabling financial organizations in the United States, Europe and Asia to implement nextgeneration technology to improve the security of ecommerce, fight identity theft, increase customer trust and drive revenue.
Citi Launches Citi Managed Identity Services
(source= Citi Group) New York, NY Citi announces the launch of its highassurance digital identity solution Citi Managed Identity Services. This new offering from Citis Global Transaction Services business enables Citi clients to use digital identity and signature technologies to effectively and securely manage the exchange of electronic information in digital commerce and business critical transactions. The expansion of electronic commerce and globalization of supply chains is driving companies to streamline their business processes and move to a sustainable, industrialstrength, paperless environment without compromising security, confidentiality, compliance, and integrity of transactions. Citis Managed Identity Services provides clients the requisite security and assurance framework to confidently transact business. As part of the solution, Citi issues digital identities that can be used in a number of ways including authenticating end users to applications, encrypting and locking down data, and replacing wet ink with digital signatures, without compromising legal enforceability.
Russian Coreflood Gang targets online bank accounts
(source= USA Today) Call them the Coreflood Gang. A ring of cyber bank robbers from southern Russia has quietly perfected a way to get a beachhead inside company networks. Once inside, it infects every PC within reach with a custommade datastealing program called Coreflood. The goal: go rip off bank accounts online. Over the past 16 months, the Coreflood Gang has infected swaths of PCs inside thousands of companies, hospitals, universities and government agencies, says SecureWorks researcher Joe Stewart, who has tracked and documented the spread of Coreflood over that period. Its spying on you, capturing your logons, user names, passwords, bank balances, contents of your email, Stewart says. It can capture anything. Coreflood is part of a class of malicious software, called banking trojans, designed primarily to help crooks break into bank accounts online. The number of banking trojans detected on the Internet this month topped 24,800, up from 3,342 at the start of 2006, security firm FSecure says.
Oberthur Technologies wins deal to supply Philippines' electronic passport
(source= Forbes) PARIS (Thomson Financial)Oberthur Technologies said it has won a contract to supply the Philippines electronic passport. The French manufacturer did not say how much the contract was worth. The group will supply a complete system, including registration, issuing, personalisation and the biometric system. Oberthur recently created a division devoted to electronic identity documents, a branch of activity it wishes to develop. In June it won a contract to supply electronic passports in Taiwan.
Sony goes to business with Vaio
(source= ComputerWeekly) Sony has launched three VAIO notebook computers aimed at business users. The lineup comprises VAIO SRSeries, a 2Kg 15.4 inch model, which gives 5 hours battery life the VAIO BZ is an A4format and the VAIO ZSeries is a 1.5kg notebook which has a carbon fibre case. The SRSeries uses Intels Core 2 Duo processors. It is configured with 4GB of highspeed system memory and a 13.3 WXGA (1280 x 800) screen, which Sony says offers both low power consumption LED illumination and its Xblack LCD display enhancement.Sony has also developed a Switch function, which lets users change the personality of the notebook at the touch of a button, so it can be switched between a customised personal desktop and a professional look and feel. The VAIO BZSeries BZ11VN uses Intels Centrino platform with vPro technology, which, Sony said, offers users builtin remote manageability and enhanced security. This notebook includes fingerprint recognition technology and supports Trusted Platform Module hardware protection, which stops access to data if the laptop is stolen or left on a train
Homeowners association goes with smart cards
(source= ContactlessNews) The Conejo Homeowners Association in California has chosen Absolute SecurityTechnologies Inc. to rollout a new security system, including smart card access combined with video surveillance. DigiOn24 is supplying the contactless cards for the project. The new security system will be implemented over the next few months. The traditional lock and key system was difficult to manage as homeowners moved out or duplicated keys for others. This lead to vandalism and excessive use of the common areas and additional costs for the homeowners association. The association is going with a contactless Mifarebased cards. The cards along with the Brivo remote management system will be able to provide an access record of who used the card, when they used it along with photographic evidence and video surveillance.
What is the next ID project?
(source= ContactlessNews) This is the question being asked by Jeremy Grant, senior vice president and identity solutions analyst at the Stanford Group Company. There are many projects underway, Real ID, the FBIs Next Generation Identification program, the Passport Card, the DODs Automated Biometric Identification System, are just a few. The Airport Credential Interoperability Specification may be one new opportunity but what else is on the horizon? Grants say there may be a lull until a new administration comes in and lays out new priorities.
Customs: Murray Harrison, CIO
(source= ZDnet) Australian Customs CIO Murray Harrison dislikes SLAs and runs away if a vendor talks to him about innovation. In this interview, he also explains why getting excited about gadgets can be dangerous and talks about how Customs outsourcing strategy has evolved.
Homeland Security out to revolutionize air travel
(source= Seattlepi.com) WACO, TexasOur protectors over at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are investigating a technology that should revolutionize air travel. The idea is to require all airline passengers to wear a safety bracelet that will be attached at checkin and removed when the passengers arrive at their destinations. The safety bracelet will contain all boarding information, seat assignment and personal information. It will eliminate the need for a boarding pass. Best of all, the safety bracelet also acts as a stun device capable of completely immobilizing passengers on command.Talk about American ingenuity. Terrorists would never have an opportunity to take over another airliner. At the first sign of a passenger acting suspiciously, a button could be pressed that would completely immobilize suspected terrorists, thus allowing plenty of time to restrain the suspects for the remainder of the flight. This device, also called an Electronic ID Bracelet, actually is called an EMD Safety Bracelet by the manufacturer, Lamperd Less Lethal Inc.
Italy opts to have fingerprints on national identity cards
(source= Couriermail) AN Italian parliamentary commission has approved a plan to require fingerprints on national identity cards for everyone living in Italy. The plan is taking shape following international criticism of a separate government campaign to single out Gypsies, including children, for mandatory fingerprinting. The House of Deputies finance commission, as part of its work on the threeyear 20092011 national budget law, gave the goahead to funding for fingerprinting starting in 2010 for those getting Italian identity cards for the first time or renewing ones that have expired. Identity cards are required for Italian citizens and foreigners who reside in Italy. Now they feature the cardholders photo.
