Banking Authentication System Gets Fooled By a Dummy – Identity News Digest

[Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that Philadelphia International Airport had doubled its number of biometric screening gates. Rather, airport authorities have completed an overall deployment, and not doubled the number of gates using biometric technology.]

Welcome to FindBiometrics’ digest of identity industry news. Here’s what you need to know about the world of digital identity and biometrics today:

UN’s ICT Agency Recognizes FIDO Standards

The International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) has formally recognized the FIDO Alliance’s UAF 1.2 and CTAP 2.1 specifications as international standards. It’s a major development for FIDO: ITU-T is the standardization arm of the ITU, the United Nations’ agency for ICT, and its ITU-T Recommendations are used globally in the infrastructure of ICT. The decision was made by the ITU’s standardization expert group for security, ITU-T Study Group 17, whose Chairman, Heung Youl Youm, said his organization “will continue to strengthen its collaboration with the FIDO Alliance.”

Irish Justice Minister to Remove Facial Recognition From Body Cam Bill

Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, will introduce legislation permitting the use of body cameras by Garda, its national police force, without any provisions concerning the use of facial recognition, reports The Irish Times. Lawmakers associated with the Fine Gael party had been pushing for the inclusion of facial recognition in the bill, but faced resistance primarily from the Green Party over concerns about civil liberties. Now, Minister McEntee is planning to address the facial recognition issue in a distinct piece of legislation that can be debated separately.

Chinese Facial Recognition Company Invests in Chip Maker

ESWIN Computer Technology, a China-based developer of chips for Internet of Things devices, has raised 3 billion yuan, or about $421 million, in a Series D investment round. The round was led by state-owned investment platforms Beijing Financial Street Capital Operation Group and Guoxin Venture Capital. The round reportedly saw the participation of a number of state-affiliated investors, and, unusually, another tech company — Shanghai-listed facial recognition software developer Cloudwalk Technology. Facial recognition played a prominent role in the “Security China” trade show earlier this month.

Philadelphia Airport Completes Deployment of Biometric Screening Units

Philadelphia International Airport (“PHL”) has completed its installation of 25 biometric passenger screening gates, deployed in Terminal A of the airport. The deployment is the result of collaborations with SITA and NEC, and with US Customs and Border Protection. PHL first deployed the CBP’s “Simplified Arrival” facial recognition system in 2021. The latest deployment, which expanded its total number of biometric units to 50, was delivered within six months, and without interruption to the airport’s daily operations.

Robot for Devs Features Face, Emotion Recognition

A new, quadrupedal robot that Wired describes as ‘a budget version of Boston Dynamics’ Spot’ features support for facial recognition and emotion detection. Luwu Dynamics’ “XGO-Mini2” is primarily meant to serve as a learning tool for developers who are interested in playing with robotics and computer vision. It is highly programmable; and upon startup offers a few demo capabilities including gender estimation, emotion recognition based on facial expressions, and a facial recognition tool that allows the user to register different people’s face biometrics.

Talview Delivers Selfie Verification Tool for Hiring Over Microsoft Teams

Talview, the provider of a digital hiring and proctoring platform, has launched a new “Candidate Authentication” feature for Microsoft Teams that uses facial recognition to match a job applicant’s image to their photo ID. “Talview’s AI-powered Candidate Authentication feature on Microsoft Teams enhances and makes the process of candidate verification easier, faster, and more accurate,” said Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Platform Marketing Director Ben Summers. “The integration also ensures security and compliance boundaries for recruitment procedures.”

Brazilian Fraudster Spoofs Facial Recognition With Photos and a Dummy

Police in Brazil have arrested a fraudster who is alleged to have fooled one or more banks’ biometric authentication systems by taping photos of his victims’ faces to a dummy, and then using them for selfie-based login. The São Paulo Civil Police say he used this method both to access bank accounts and to fraudulently apply for loans. Upon raiding his home, police found a pile of photos of the fraudster’s victims, alongside the dummy used for his spoofing attacks.

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June 19, 2023 – by Alex Perala