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| Monday, May 18, 02:37:58pm | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, [10] ] |
| Subject: Malaysian government--to authorise financial payments and withdraw cash | |
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Author: 16:43 21 September 01--worlds first biometric data compulsory |
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Date Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 05:21:52pm In reply to: new US law - to come into effect October, 2004 's message, "Starting autumn, 2004 Dutch passports electronic chip biometric" on Tuesday, February 11, 03:08:17am The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service ----------------------------------------------------------- Malaysia pioneers smart cards with fingerprint data ----------------------------------------------------------- 16:43 21 September 01 ----------------------------------------------------------- The world's first national smart card scheme to store biometric data on an in-built computer chip has been introduced in Malaysia. The cards are compulsory for Malaysia's citizens and are encoded with a copy of the owner's fingerprints. ------------------------------------------------------------ Pressure is growing in other countries for improved identification schemes, especially since the recent terrorist atrocities in the US. ------------------------------------------------------------ "A lot of governments including the US will be looking at better identification systems to monitor the movement of people within their countries after the terror attacks," said Wan Mohamad Ariffin, smart card project director at Malaysia's National Registration Department. "We are willing to share our technology. It could be part of the solution to the security issue." ------------------------------------------------------------ Although the strongest opposition to such schemes will probably come from civil liberties groups, technical experts also say that such measures will not thwart criminals or determined terror groups. ------------------------------------------------------------ Identity theft ------------------------------------------------------------ Ross Anderson, an expert in computer security at Cambridge University, says that smart cards may make forging ID cards harder but they are unlikely to provide a complete solution. ------------------------------------------------------------ "You can maybe exert some downward pressure on identity theft by incorporating machine readable fingerprints of some kind or another," Anderson told New Scientist. "But, in this situation, making identity cards harder to forge is solving the wrong problem." ------------------------------------------------------------ Anderson says that terrorist groups will simply subvert the system another way, by using a stolen birth certificate, for example. He also points out that, unless an individual has been identified by the authorities as a threat, smart cards will not help. ------------------------------------------------------------ Nevertheless, smart cards should make fraud more difficult. Although most cards will give up their digital secrets to a determined expert, combined with digital signatures they make forgery more complicated. ------------------------------------------------------------ This is important because the Malaysian government has said that the new cards are likely to be used to authorise financial payments and withdraw cash, as well as identify individuals to the authorities. ------------------------------------------------------------ Digital signature ------------------------------------------------------------Related Stories ------------------------------------------------------------ Tiny radio chip gives paper an ID 4 July 2001 ----------------------------------------------------------- Europeans face having years of internet and phone activity archived 18 May 2001 ----------------------------------------------------------- DNA fingerprints used by police contain information about the health of a suspect 2 May 2001 ----------------------------------------------------------- Weblinks ----------------------------------------------------------- National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Malaysia ----------------------------------------------------------- Hardware security, Cambridge University ----------------------------------------------------------- Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties ----------------------------------------------------------- Markus Kuhn, also at Cambridge University's computer science department, says that the biometrics stored on a modern smart card will be authenticated by a central authority when the card is created, in the form of a digital signature. ----------------------------------------------------------- This means that even if a card is stolen and a new fingerprint data inserted, anyone with a government scanner could recognise it as fake. "You can put a new fingerprint on the card but not forge its overall signature," Kuhn says. ----------------------------------------------------------- But opposition to this type of smart-card system remains from civil libertarians. "I don't think that these will stop terrorist acts," says Yaman Akdeniz, director of Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties. "They are more controlling measures. They let a government track you and know more about you." ----------------------------------------------------------- The US government is currently increasing its capacity to track citizens. The Combating Terrorism Act of 2001, proposed shortly after the devastation of New York and Washington DC, would increase the powers of federal agents to wiretap individuals. ----------------------------------------------------------- Will Knight ----------------------------------------------------------- [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Japan biometric passports within 2/3 yrs U.S. enacted a law in May 2002-not issue visa waivers/applicants/possess/info/identity | (G-8) major countrieshow set common standard, Aviation6/2/03 | Wednesday, February 12, 09:04:43am |
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