 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Latest
News |
|
||
|
News Archive | |
|
||
|
About us | |
|
||
|
EU Initiative | |
|
||
|
Contact | |
|
||
|
Search | |
These
news pages are provided by the Product & Image Security Foundation
Product & Image Security Foundation
For full details of news items, articles and features please refer to the current isssue.
| March 2002 |
LATEST NEWS in the WORLD OF PRODUCT & IMAGE SECURITY.
Low cost Visa smart card aims to combat credit card fraud
ORGA is supplying a new fraud-proof smart card to Visa International that will cost less than less than US$ 1.00 (less than 0.70p). The new debit and credit card is expected to accelerate the migration to secure microchip card technology, providing a significant boost to banks looking for a cost effective way to introduce smart cards and to reduce fraud.
Over £400 million is lost in the UK alone through card fraud each year. To combat the problem, which is increasingly attributed to organised crime, banks and credit card companies are adopting more secure technology.
Unlike magnetic stripe cards, smart cards are very difficult to duplicate and incorporate very strong security software processes, with microchips designed to destroy themselves if barriers are broken.
Produced in association with STMicroelectronics, the low cost Visa smart card will be compliant with the international specification (EMV) and support the Visa Smart Debit/Credit application. The smart card is part of a major Visa program, being developed in partnership with IBM, to reduce the cost of issuing smart cards. It will be the first in a family of low cost products from STMicroelectronics.
TAGSYS IS THE NEW NAME FOR GEMPLUS TAG
Same Organisation, Increased Resources say company
The official launch of TAGSYS as an independent company, formally known as Gemplus Tag took place in mid October.
To intensify its strategic market-driven approach and to reinforce its leadership in the growing market of smart asset tracking, TAGSYS chose to part from a company essentially focused on smart card developments for telecommunications, financial services and e-business security.
World class companies have invested into TAGSYS because they firmly believe in the success of this enterprise. With headquarters in France and subsidiaries on 3 continents, TAGSYS has several R&D centres, a technical team of unrivalled experience and an outstanding track record of technological innovation, including a most extensive patent portfolio of this technology.
With 15 years of experience in RFID design, TAGSYS is today a leading manufacturer of passive RFID products and the only company in the world to provide complete RFID systems from chip design, tags and smart labels, readers and antennas, to application-specific reading stations, compatible with TAGSYS chips and other leading chips on the market.
SYGADE SOLUTIONS TO PRODUCE ECOTAG READERS IN HIGH VOLUME
SYGADE SOLUTIONS and TROLLEY SCAN announced in Johannesburg (RSA) that they have signed licensing agreements that will allow Sygade to produce RFID systems and components using Trolley Scan's patented RFID technology. Sygade will start producing UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers to operate the EcoTag transponders that are being produced by other licensees. (see Producy & Image Security vol 5 no 5).
Said Gerhard Mynhard, Managing Director of Sygade Solutions. "We are very excited to be leading the wave in the global acceptance of UHF RFID technology. With its features of good operating ranges and low cost systems, the market potential is virtually insatiable.
We will initially be producing a range of different readers to operate with the transponders that are to be produced by other licensees."
Said Mike Marsh, MD of Trolley Scan: "We are thrilled to be able to welcome Sygade Solutions to our team of licensees. Trolley Scan have been developing the technology so that eventually the electronic scanning of supermarket trolleys will be possible, and licensing Sygade is an important step into realising that goal commercially."
New role for Tidmarsh
Technical Graphics/Technical Graphics Security Products, the security thread manufacturer based in Milford, New Hampshire, informed Product & Image Security of the appointment of Dr David Tidmarsh as Commercial Director. Based in their European Company, TGSP Ltd registered in England, Dr Tidmarsh will be primarily responsible for the company’s commercial activities relating to security thread for banknote and other high security paper in Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa. In addition, Dr Tidmarsh will help develop TGSP’S authentication, anti diversion and anti counterfeiting products and business for global and national brands.
Eurodetector - forged banknote detector
With the appearance of the euro on I January 2002, seven new banknotes and eight new coins are about to become part of everyday life for the citizens of the 12 countries of the euro area. A recent report by Europol, the Union's police co-ordination office warns that the introduction of the euro could unleash an unprecedented crime wave as criminals take advantage of the abundance of cash and confusion likely to be created by the currency changeover. In 1999 and 2000, law enforcement agencies in the European Union seized more than 2,125,000 counterfeit notes, this figure is likely to rise significantly as the euro becomes the second most used currency in the world.
Counterfeiting has certain characteristics that make it different from other crimes. With new computer technologies and modern reproduction methods allowing us to make high-quality copies of almost any printed material, virtually any individual can potentially counterfeit banknotes from the comfort of his or her own home. A young student, for instance, proficient with computers, could start out by printing a few notes for fun and then easily move on to producing false notes for financial gain.
Although nothing can stop a determined counterfeiter from trying, a number of special security features have been incorporated into the design of the new euro, including special tactile properties, a distinctive watermark, a security thread, a foil hologram, and special inks. In addition, machine-readable features have been integrated into the banknotes, allowing cash handling machines to check each banknote's authenticity without human intervention, but for any of these measures to be effective, banknotes must be examined upon receipt.
JDS Uniphase Subsidiary Launches SecureShift™ Technology For Brand Protection
In order to meet the growing global threat of product counterfeiting, Flex Products, Inc., a JDS Uniphase company have launched SecureShift pigment technology. These secure pigments protect major brands and products since they are believed to be impossible to copy, easy to identify, and internationally patented. Available in five colors, SecureShift Technology gives the brand owner multiple options for secure packaging of products with immediate authentication, flexible aesthetics and ease of application.
UP TO SCRATCH
De La Rue Holographics has developed a new product to counteract the threat of counterfeit and re-sale fraud in the pre-paid card market. Scratch-Off from De La Rue Holographies comes in two versions: hot stamp foil into which images are embossed and holographic labels. In both cases, the key data (such as the user's Personal Identification Number) is obscured by the new Scratch-Off holographic material until removed by the purchaser.
On cards protected by holographic Scratch-Off, pre-sale tampering or any attempt to re-apply a layer of a similar standard to a valueless card will be immediately evident to the prospective purchaser. Almost impossible to replicate, holographic evidence of authenticity is increasingly needed and demanded by consumers and brand owners alike.
HONG KONG IS REFUSED Xbox
Microsoft's revolutionary Xbox games console will not be sold in Hong Kong because of fears over software piracy. The US software giant is launching a US$500 million global marketing campaign to promote the new system, but company sources have reportedly said it had no plans to sell the consoles in Hong Kong or China due to the ease with which consumers could obtain cheap, illegal copies of software.
The decision will be seen as a blow to the Hong Kong Government's claims that it is winning the war against software piracy. ''We sell the consoles at a loss and make money on the games. If pirated games are available, we can't make money here,'' a Microsoft source said. This was supported by Merrill Lynch analysts who estimate Microsoft will lose US$125 on each of the US$299 Xboxes it sells.
Manufacturers form new partnership - Estafette
During recent times, production and personalisation of identity cards and travel documents have undergone significant changes. From what used to be manual personalisation: gluing of a portrait picture, typing or handwriting of the personal data, the market has witnessed the introduction of "digital/analogue" personalisation - using photographic techniques for the production of secure travel documents.
Over the last 10 years, all-digital personalisation has established itself as the ‘de facto’ solution. A parallel evolution has also been taking place with a tendency to move from decentralised issuance to centralised production and issuance.
Most countries now also keep, or seek to keep in the near future, a computerised record of who has been applying for documents and where. The fact alone that such databases are in essence centralised systems, is an enabling factor for the use of a centralised production and personalising unit.
The Estafette consortium focuses on the creation of identity documents on a large scale. The concept is that of a technically advanced workflow, using the unique properties of several technology partners, each adding their own know-how. This technology group has been called the "Estafette" consortium (Dutch and French for "relay race").
The partners, operating on a 'preferred partner' basis, are: Schleicher & Schuell for the pre-printing stage, BARCO for the personalisation of the documents, Hologram Industries for the Security Holographic Foil, InkSure supplies a proprietary covert machine readable coding system and Codor Domed completes the partnership with an automated lamination process.
IDC Forecasts Worldwide Supply Chain Services Revenues Will Approach $83 Billion in 2005
Supply chain services are in high demand. According to IDC, the worldwide market generated $23 billion in 2000 and is on a pace that will bring it near $83 billion by 2005.
"The use of the Internet as a communication medium and the increase in business-to-business e.commerce are fuelling supply chain services growth," said Ting Piper, program manager for IDC's Supply Chain and e.Logistics Services research. "B2B e.commerce spurs the need for automation of supply chain processes among multiple parties and increases the need for timely supply chain implementations done by specialised providers."
According to IDC, North America and Western Europe represent the largest opportunity for supply chain services. Together, they generated 95% of the market's worldwide revenues in 2000. In 2005, they will still hold a commanding 88% share.
Precision Dynamics' Smart Band™ RFID Wristbands Use Tag-it™Smart Label Inlays from Texas Instruments
Precision Dynamics Corporation, an international leader in identification products, now offer a new line of identification wristbands, Smart Band™ that incorporates Tag-it™ smart label inlays from Texas Instruments Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems. Using TI's RFID smart label technology, Smart Band provides advanced data storage and a more accurate and secure method of identifying and tracking hospital patients, prison inmates, and patrons at entertainment and recreation facilities.
Tag-it smart label inlays are an easy-to-integrate, cost-effective and consumable RFID solution. Consisting of an integrated circuit, an antenna and requiring no batteries, Tag-it RFID inlays are paper-thin, flexible and programmable. The programmable feature of Tag-it allows application-specific information to be written to and retrieved from the tags at any time. In addition to providing a unique identification number, Precision Dynamics Smart Band can contain data on the location of hospital patients or prison inmates. These could also hold information on the status of an inmate's commissary account or automatically debit a patron's account each time a purchase is made at a theme park, vacation resort or other attraction. Information on the RFID Smart Band can be changed or locked to protect it from being modified.