Western States Award Contract to Update Biometrics Systems

A group of Western states has selected an information technology and biometrics vendor to modernize the organization’s criminal identification system under a multiyear contract. 

Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are all a part of the Western Identification Network. 

GovTech reports WIN’s member states each have access to nearly 28 million fingerprint…

Los Alamos Lab Uses Quantum Physics for Mobile Security

Through quantum cryptography, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have invented a new system to secure large transfers of information between mobile devices.

LANL recently released information about the QKarD, a miniature transmitter which generates random cryptographic keys to encode and decode information.

LANL says the QKarD uses the laws of quantum physics and…

NIST Looking for Biometric Fingerprint Scanner

The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced it is accepting proposals for a handheld fingerprint sensor.

The anti-resistant handheld device would be capable of biometric acquisition. It would be controlled through a wireless service, including a self-contained battery and power source, according to NIST’s Special Publication 500-288: Specification for WS-Biometric Devices.

NIST outlined a two-part proposal process….

Accenture to Add New Biometrics to DHS Program on $71M Contract

Accenture‘s federal services subsidiary has been selected to enhance a U.S. Department of Homeland Security biometric and biographic identity management system.

The U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program helps federal, state and local officials determine whether travelers can legally enter or remain in the U.S., the company said. 

The company will work to increase the…

NIST Rolls Out New Authentification Guidelines

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has put out a revised guideline for electronic authentication for verification of users of their Web-based services.   The original Electronic Authentication Guideline was published in 2006, addressing agencies who handled user identification. However, NIST issued revisions as it indicated that there was an assumption…

NIST Adds DNA, Footprints to Biometric Standard

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has added DNA and footprint information to its biometric standard, which details the type and amount of information that forensic scientists can share across their networks.

NIST said in its announcement that this is the first international standard to address sharing of DNA data. NIST also…

Unisys Finds Americans React More Positively to Biometrics Than Expected

Unisys research has disproved an easy to make assumption that U.S. citizens would not react well to providing biometric information to either government or private organizations for identification.

In fact, Unisys found nearly 60 percent of U.S. respondents in a security index survey to be willing to provide biometric data for airport or banking security, according to an AOL…

Contractors Look to Improve DNA Testing, Increase Sales to Security Agencies

Contractors are looking to speed up biometric testing processes and make more sales to government agencies, according to a Washington Post Capital Business report. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are both taking steps toward these measures.

A recent contract win for Northrop Grumman furthers the idea that contractors are looking to progress in biometrics offerings…

Report: Intel Close to Buying Israeli Biometrics Gaming Firm for $50M

Intel is close to acquiring Israeli printed circuit board manufacturer, Invision Biometrics for $50 million and is in the “advanced stages” of negotiations, according to a report on ynetnews.com.

Assaf Gilad writes that Invision develops 3D sensor PCBs “which detect face and body movement and translate them into on-screen game moves, similarly to Microsoft’s popular Kinect technology.”

Invision employs dozens of…

Northrop Wins Award to Further Develop DNA Biometrics Capabillity

The U.S. Army BOSS-U program has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to further develop and supply the IntegenX RapidHIT 200 human DNA identification system.

The system automates and accelerates the process of producing standardized DNA profiles from cheek swabs, human tissue samples, and other objects with low copy numbers of DNA. IntegenX was…