November 24, 2013 – by Peter B. Counter
This week, the eyes of the biometrics industry were firmly fixed on the CARTES 2013 Secure Connexions Event in Paris, France. The high profile annual convention is aimed at the authentication industry as a whole and therefore provides a pedestal for all sorts of high tech security technologies. Even on a broader playing field though, biometrics were out in full force, showing versatility across mobile (especially mCommerce) and non mobile markets.
To this effect we saw new innovations in fingerprint biometrics from DigitalPersona and DERMALOG. DigitalPersona’s newly announced Atlus fingerprint identification solution that takes aim at solving a pervasive problem in developing nations: many citizens do not have the identification necessary to bank. Atlus can replace the need for ID, only requiring a birth certificate for enrollment into the biometric banking service.
Meanwhile DERMALOG’s innovation hybridized fingerprint recognition with the more specific signature biometric authentication. This is a world first in the area of dual factor authentication: the ability to read two separate biometrics from the same scanning surface.
This week in biometrics wasn’t confined exclusively to France, however, with EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush flying to Rotterdam, The Netherlands to represent his startup in Get in the Ring 2013. The international contest is a part of Global Entrepreneur Week, and put EyeVerify against seven other finalists from around the word to compete in a pitching brawl for a grand prize of a one million euro angel investment. Thanks to the demand for post-password security and Rush’s abilities to properly explain the patented EyePrint technology, EyeVerify entered as the US finalist walked away the world wide winner.
Winners are the only people allowed into the Houston, Texas business social club The Marque. Membership initiation is an expensive and exclusive privilege in the high end mega-lounge that sounds like it’s straight out of a James Bond movie. Aiding in this comparison, and in making positively sure members only areas stay that way, is the announcement that the club facilities are guarded by Morpho (Safran) face biometric access control. The solution is cardless and gives a new meaning to the phrase “going out to be seen.”
The kind of cardless convenience on display at The Marque is not only for the super rich however, biometric solutions can be for everyone. Fujitsu and PulseWallet announced a partnership this week that will put PalmSecure palm vein biometrics at the heart of eco-friendly payment terminals. The PulseWallet payment solution offers retailers a paper-free physical payment option and customers in turn have the option of leaving everything at home. It’s a naked payment solution not only for the ecoconscious, but also for the convenience minded.
Moving into next week be sure to stay up to date on the authentication industry as a whole by making Mobile ID World a regular stop, and be sure to register for the newest findBIOMETRICS Webinar, “The Password is Dead,” a conversation with the FIDO Alliance’s Michael Barrett and Phil Dunkelberger. This year, more than any other, has been a tipping point in the war on passwords, and who better to bring us up to speed on the topic than the founding members and president of a consortium driving for universal open strong authentication standards?
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