Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

Not all are created equal: Contrasting optical and silicon sensors for fingerprint biometrics

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Nearly everyone knows that fingerprints are unique but fewer know that fingerprint biometric readers are very different as well. Most people are familiar with the more common optical biometric readers from Hollywood’s portrayal of biometrics in film and television. But fewer know of the rapidly growing use of silicon-based fingerprint sensors. The significantly smaller size requirements of these newer sensors are bringing biometric security to laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, and even ID cards.

There are 627 words in the rest of this article …

Library Access Required

Library subscribers have access to the full archives of more than 10,000 original news items and feature articles published by AVISIAN’s suite of ID technology publications (ContactlessNews.com, CR80News.com, DigitalIDNews.com, FIPS201.com, NFCNews.com, RFIDNews.org, SecureIDNews.com, and ThirdFactor.com).

For just $49, you receive unlimited password-protected access to content on all of AVISIAN’s sites for an entire year. Your subscription helps fund the continued creation of independent, insightful content. Find out more.

Sign in as a Subscriber

If you are already a subscriber, you may sign in now. Enter your Email Address and Password and click Sign In.

Email Address →
Password →
Action →

If you have forgotten your password, enter just your Email Address, and click Send Password.

Email Address →
Action →

Mobile and network security provider AuthenTec has released the AuthenTec AE2750, a fingerprint sensor designed for use in mobile commerce applications.

The AE2750 contains many features found in smart sensor designs, such as a 192 pixel by 8 pixel fingerprint sensor array. It also offers hybrid fingerprint matching on a sensor match and host match, AES, RSA and SHA encryption block and One Time Password generation. The device can mount on smart phones, tablest and touchscreen-enabled mobile devices.

read more »

The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has awarded a two-year contract to Chicago-based Accurate Biometrics to perform its livescan and cardscan fingerprint collection and transmission services.

read more »

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed and published a new protocol for devices to capture biometric data wirelessly and securely using Web services.

read more »

The Bank of China and other major Chinese banks are deploying new bank terminals designed to reduce teller fraud in branch offices.

Miaxis Biometrics Co. LTD created the product by integrating AuthenTec’s TCS2 TouchChip fingerprint sensors into its Bank ID Terminals. Bank tellers will use their fingerprints to provide a unique identification marker, which will then provide a biometric audit trail of financial transactions.

read more »

British journal Benchmark Magazine, a monthly publication about security technology, found after testing a variety of fingerprint readers, that those using multispectral imaging provide more consistent readings than those relying on optical scans only.

read more »

Sensor supplier Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) has extended its partnership with Chinese biometrics provider Miaxis Biometrics Co. LTD to deliver biometrics products to the Chinese banking sector.

read more »