An interagency technology council has released a draft of a registry of biometric standards that could improve sharing of data between agencies. The registry is an attempt to establish agreement on interagency standards so that biometric systems will be interoperable. The registry includes recommended standards for data collection, storage and exchange; transmission profiles; requirements for identifying government employees and contractors; performance testing methodology standards; and references. It has been released through the National Institute of Standards and Technology for public comment; comments should be e-mailed to standards@biometrics.gov by March 10. Comments will be reviewed by the NSTC Technology Committee.

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A program from UKvisas supported by VEGA Group PLC (VEGA) to biometrically enroll all visa applicants to the United Kingdom has won an e-Government award for ‘innovation in strategy’. UKvisas is a joint directorate of the Border and Immigration Agency and Foreign & Commonwealth Office. VEGA’s task includes assuring the integrity of the solution. Additionally, VEGA consultants conducted spot audits in several countries to check whether new procedures were being adhered to. The system roll out was completed in December 2007 and is currently processing 2.5 million applications annually.

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BioLink announces fundamental changes to its official website at http://www.biolinksolutions.com. The updated site contains comprehensive information on the Company’s major activities, products, solutions and the most recent global biometric trends. The “Solutions” section represents the collection of all global experience and expertise in implementing biometrics. The “Products” section comprises detailed information on the Company’s branded software and hardware solutions. There is also a separate section containing comparative analysis of the most popular and widely spread biometric identification technologies, allowing website visitors select the optimum identification technique to be applied in a particular application area.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., has reportedly been chosen as the prime systems integrator of the FBI’s next generation biometrics system, says Jeremy Grant, senior vice president and identity solutions analyst at the Stanford Group Company.

Lockheed was the incumbent, having setup the agency’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. The company beat out Northrop Grumman IBM and Unisys.

The new system will include biometrics in addition to fingerprints. Iris images, palm scans and pictures of scars and tattoos will be added to the list of physical characteristics taken from offenders as the FBI attempts to find better ways to identify criminals and terrorists.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., has reportedly been chosen as the prime systems integrator of the FBI’s next generation biometrics system, says Jeremy Grant, senior vice president and identity solutions analyst at the Stanford Group Company.

Lockheed was the incumbent, having setup the agency’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. The company beat out Northrop Grumman IBM and Unisys.

Digitus Biometrics is now shipping a networked version of the fingerprint-recognition Digitus Access Control System. The new version adds encrypted TCP/IP communications, enabling security administrators to control Digitus units anywhere in the world from a single location. One of the first installations to upgrade to the networked units is the U.S. Army’s Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF). While upgrading the HAAF units, the Army also upgraded units at Fort Stewart and units at both locations are centrally administered from HAAF. Each Digitus unit includes two components: a fingerprint reader with keypad for placement outside a door, and a controller located securely behind the locked door. The fingerprint reader uses biometrics technology to detect a live fingerprint, and communicates with the controller using Digitus’ proprietary code hopping encryption protocol.

ISO has just published a standard to increase the security of financial transactions over electronic media. The new standard, ISO 19092:2008, Financial services – Biometrics – Security framework, establishes the security requirements for the implementation and management of biometric identification technology within the financial industry. ISO 19092:2008 describes the security framework for using biometrics for authentication of individuals in financial services. It introduces the types of biometric technologies and addresses issues concerning their application. ISO 19092:2008 also addresses the following topics: validation of credentials presented at enrollment to support authentication, management and security of biometric information across its life cycle, application of biometrics for logical and physical access control, and security of the physical hardware.

AuthenTec’s fingerprint sensor has been integrated into the first fingerprint-enabled “global phones” offered by Fujitsu. AuthenTec’s fingerprint sensors protect sensitive information as well as mobile commerce transactions for users of the phone, which is capable of operating in 155 countries and regions. Fujitsu’s new global phone, the FOMA™ F905i, supports international roaming via 3G and GSM cellular networks and uses AuthenTec’s AES1710 fingerprint sensor. The AES1710 is based on the company’s TruePrint® technology that reads below the surface of the skin where the true fingerprint resides.

US Biometrics Corporation has initiated a series of regional educational seminars designed to help institutions of higher learning understand how biometrics – especially fingerprint biometrics - can be used on campuses to proactively increase security and convenience for faculty, employees, and students. They are scheduled to be conducted quarterly with the next seminar being conducted on Tuesday, February 19th at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California.

For approximately 255,000 Bahamian e-passports, BioLink supplied its biometric development kit, designed to add security to applications requiring strong identification. The kit is mostly advantageous for supporting the key global security standards, such as ICAO, ISO/IEC, ANSI/NIST, ANSI/INCITS, WSQ and BioAPI thus ensuring an interoperable data exchange with other systems. For this particular project, BioLink also ensured compatibility of its fingerprint matching algorithm in the ANSI/NIST format with the ST4e hand-held device delivered by IRIS Corporation Berhad, BioLink’s partner in the Bahamian project.