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SecuGen announces new technology to detect spoofing of fingerprint biometric systems
Milpitas, CA (May 30, 2002) - SecuGen Corporation, one of the world's leading providers of biometric fingerprint recognition systems, announced today new technology to detect methods used to defeat fingerprint recognition systems. Biometrics, which is based on “who you are,” is recognized as more secure and convenient than other commonly used security methods such as “what you know” (passwords/PINs) or “what you have” (tokens). SecuGen’s advanced optical fingerprint sensor and algorithms have long been able to reject latent fingerprints left on the sensor surface as an invalid input. However, the problem of a high quality copy of a “lifted” fingerprint or a three dimensional fingerprint mold fooling biometric sensors is a more difficult problem, one that SecuGen has been working on for the past year. Won Lee, Chief Technical Officer at SecuGen, announces, “To defeat spoofing techniques, we have combined a proprietary algorithm with physical changes to the optical sensor to detect all known methods of defeating a fingerprint biometric system.” Current approaches to the problem of identifying spoofing rely on detecting one or more characteristics of a “live and well finger” such as temperature, pulse, electrical characteristics, transparency, etc. SecuGen’s system takes a unique, proprietary approach to detecting more basic characteristics of the spoofing methods. Lee explains, “While other fingerprint systems, including those using ‘live finger detection’, are fooled 75 to 100% of the time by a 3D gelatin mold recently referred to as a ‘gummy finger’, the new SecuGen system consistently rejects such a mold.” This is significant performance since gummy fingers are more similar to live fingers in their characteristics than molds made of any other material. “Even with SecuGen’s new technology, it is important to consider biometrics as part of an overall security system,” says Won Lee. “The biometric sensor is nearly always part of a system that may contain other elements. For very high security applications, additional levels of authentication should be required, such as user IDs, Pins, passwords, or tokens. Each added layer of authentication provides additional deterrence against a serious security breach.” About SecuGen SecuGen Corporation provides biometric solutions for physical and network security employing the most advanced fingerprint recognition technology. The company invents, develops, manufactures and markets a complete line of patented optical fingerprint recognition sensors that, combined with powerful, sophisticated algorithms, yield products with the highest resolution and longest warranty in the industry. Businesses worldwide implement SecuGen's proven hardware and software products for Internet, enterprise network and desktop security, physical access control, time and attendance and medical record control applications. SecuGen's cost-effective products are sold as complete solutions, OEM components, or integrated into ready-to-use PC peripherals such as optical mice, keyboards and standalone desktop devices. Partnerships with key network security software suppliers assure compatibility across multiple platforms and applications. |