Biometrics Leadership Profile: Aware

A Biometrics Industry Pioneer

Aware is one of the longest-standing leaders of the biometrics industry. Founded in 1993, the company got its start in fingerprint biometrics, developing an image compression system for the FBI. Today, it offers a range of biometric technologies across a number of application areas, with a client roster of more than 100 commercial companies and over 80 government agencies.

“We will continue to enhance our existing solutions to stay ahead of fraudsters and trends in the market. Our commitment to innovation will not rest,” explained CEO Bob Eckel in a recent interview with FindBiometrics. “Neither will our vision of being the company that “Brings Biometrics to Life” by positively impacting life through biometrics.”

Enterprise Solutions That Can Scale and Specialize

Aware built its business serving the security needs of large, complex organizations. As a result, the company now offers a comprehensive set of solutions:

AwareABIS: Aware’s flagship Automated Biometric Identification System is based on modular architecture allowing it to scale considerably, with the system capable of processing anywhere from one to 30 million identities. And it supports the popular modalities of face, fingerprint, and iris biometrics.

BioSP: Supporting AwareABIS, the Biometric Services Platform is Aware’s middleware offering. Based on web services architecture, BioSP can support applications throughout a distributed network, enabling rapid biometric data processing and management.

Indigo: Aware’s Software-as-a-Service platform, offering customized, cloud-based APIs and turnkey solutions. Each Indigo solution offers Biometrics-as-a-Service tailored for a particular use case.

Secure Authentication in the Palm of Your Hand

While Aware has made its name with the kind of large-scale, enterprise-focused authentication solutions outlined above, the company has in recent years applied its biometrics expertise in the increasingly popular area of mobile-based authentication. Its Knomi solution, first launched in 2017, enables reliable identity verification through the hardware of a standard smartphone.

Knomi authentication revolves around the end user’s selfie. Using facial recognition technology, the solution is designed to match the end user’s selfie photo to their image on an official identity document, which in turn is authenticated using Aware’s automated document verification technology.

There are currently three versions of Knomi, each designed to meet different organizational needs:

Knomi D: Matches the end user’s selfie and ID photos on-device.

Knomi S: A server-based biometric matching solution that supports voice recognition in addition to facial recognition.

Knomi Web: Enables face and voice recognition over any web browser, with end users able to authenticate via smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC.

All of these solutions are supported by anti-spoofing liveness detection technology that can automatically spot the signs that a fraudster is using phony biometric credentials.

Dynamism and Momentum

These innovative solutions are the product of decades of experience on Aware’s part, and they are consistently being upgraded. The Knomi platform, for example, was updated in late 2020 to enhance its face scanning capabilities when end users are wearing the kinds of face masks that have become so commonplace in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; and Aware quickly followed that achievement with its announcement in early 2021 that it had attained MINEX III certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Indeed, beyond these technological accomplishments, there is a real sense of dynamism in Aware’s business operations despite its longstanding presence in the industry. Its CEO, Bob Eckel, recently joined the International Biometrics + Identity Association’s Board of Directors; and Aware added a cybersecurity veteran from IBM to its own Board. The company also won the 2020 IT Cybersecurity Excellence Award from Internet Telephony Magazine, in recognition of its Knomi solution. All of which point to an exciting future that will see Aware continue to build on its considerable achievements.

Learn more about Aware by visiting its page on The FindBiometrics Directory.

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Aware is a sponsor of the 18th annual FindBiometrics Year in Review. Catch up on our biggest event of the year with our roundup of interviews, podcasts and survey analysis.