UNITED STATES: ELECTRONICS GIANTS SONY UNVEIL THEIR CREDIT-CARD SIZE FINGERPRINT INDENTIFICATION READER

Record ID: 337049

  • Title: UNITED STATES: ELECTRONICS GIANTS SONY UNVEIL THEIR CREDIT-CARD SIZE FINGERPRINT INDENTIFICATION READER
  • Date: 1st June 2000
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA (MAY 31, 2000) (RVN - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV: UNIDENTIFIED MAN AT COMPUTER/ SCU COMPUTER SCREEN (2 SHOTS) 0.09 2. CU: FINGER ON FINGERPRINT READER 0.15 3. CU'S: OF FINGERPRINT ON COMPUTER SCREEN (2 SHOTS) 0.32 4. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SONY, ANDREW MOUGIS: "It's a fingerprint identificati
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA8OWQB0PYU6D78HZNK0996BVE7
  • Story Text: Sony has released a credit-card size fingerprint reader
    that could easily find its way into James Bond's bag of
    tricks.

    The average computer user has to know as many as five
    separate passwords to log on to their computer.But, with
    this new device, all computer users might need is their
    finger.

    The FIU-700 series takes the best of passwords, digital
    certificates, hardware tokens, smart cards and biometrics and
    combines them into a stand-alone fingerprint verification
    device with PKI (public key infrastructure) key generation to
    provide more security than other existing fingerprint
    identification technologies.

    Andrew Mougis, senior vice president, applications
    systems division of Sony Electronics' Broadcast and
    Professional Company explained: "It's a fingerprint
    identification unit.And, in essence, when you connect it to a
    computer, it can eliminate the need for passwords, or
    pincodes, or a smartcard and, instead, replaces it with a
    simple device which you just have to touch on a sensor."
    When faced with logging on to his computer, the user has
    only to put his finger on the device to get past security.The
    user's fingerprint is cross-checked against the one stored on
    the device to authorize computer access, or a transaction.

    This fusion of security measures that Sony has coined
    "convergent authentication," can combine a password or
    Personal Identification Number (PIN) code with a fingerprint
    for a higher level of security,or, for added flexibility and
    convenience, the fingerprint can be used instead of a password
    or PIN.

    Retinal scans in the eyes and fingerprints are the two
    most common forms of biometric authentication.Mougis explains
    that the new device is a step toward broader implementation of
    biometrics:
    "I think that, in the near future, we might see this type
    of technology applied to the actual components themselves,
    like an ATM machine, or various other devices.For now,
    though, we see this device as a first step in that path."
    Perhaps someday, instead of checking ID at the airport,
    travellers might have their fingerprints scanned to confirm
    their identity.For now, however, the device has some
    practical uses, including e-commerce applications, especially
    for high-value transactions where authentication is crucial;
    business-to-business applications; applications that would
    allow doctors secure access to patient information from their
    offices, hospitals or remotely; and vertical business networks
    such as law firms, defense contractors and other areas where
    access to files is restricted.

    While using a fingerprint to verify identity is not new,
    the FIU-700 series offers unique technological advances that
    enhance security further.It scans and matches fingerprints
    internally through a silicon-based capacitance sensor and a
    hardware-based proprietary pattern-matching algorhythm.This
    means that the fingerprints never leave the device, and are
    never transferred into a computer where they could be
    retrieved by a hacker.

    In the most paranoid worst case scenario, this reporter
    suggested that a person's finger could be cut off - adding a
    new meaning to the term hacker.However, Sony executives
    insist that, if that morbid scenario were played out, the
    removed finger's skin conductiviy would not be a match and the
    "hacker" would be locked out.

    The FIU-700 series fingerprint identification system is a
    biometric device that provides both authentication and data
    security and is designed to make Internet transactions secure.


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