Government Stakeholders Convene on Cyber Matters: Identity News Digest

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

Policy Planning

The White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) is working on a national strategy for “cyber training and education, digital awareness, and the cyber workforce,” and has issued an open call for third-party input. The strategy has a strong focus on training, recruitment, and diversity. In addition to written responses, the ONCD says it is also looking for “a limited number of innovative speakers” to present to government entities on one of a number of topics laid out in its RFI.

Australian government officials have scheduled the first Digital and Data Ministers’ Meeting in six months, with plans to convene in November. It will be the third such meeting of the year, and the first since the massive hack attack against Australian telecom Optus, in which up to 9.8 million customers’ data was exposed. Speaking to InnovationAus.com, Minister of Finance Katy Gallagher said the meeting will focus on “how we can ensure that Australians can access safe, secure and trusted government services online.”

Executive Appointments

VeriFast has announced two new appointments to its executive team. Rob Strickland, formerly a Managing Partner at mortgage tech company Brimma, is VeriFast’s new Chief Revenue Officer. Chris Pornaras, the former President and CEO of Marlborough Stirling, a software and service company focused on the mortgage, life, pension, and investment sectors, is VeriFast’s new Chief Commercial Officer. The appointments’ announcement comes after the news that VeriFast’s selfie-based onboarding technology was integrated into a rent screening platform by the Canadian real estate company Rent Panda.

Product Launches and Integrations

Sumsub has launched what it’s calling a one-click KYC solution in Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria. While the company offers remote onboarding solutions based on face biometrics, its new solution lets businesses verify customers’ identities without the need to request identity documents. In a statement, the Miami-based company explained that this particular verification process “is possible thanks to Sumsub’s direct access to government databases in the listed countries containing full names, dates of birth, addresses, photos, and other details.”

CyberLink’s FaceMe facial recognition system has been integrated into ASUS’s new ‘Mini PCs’ for businesses, the ASUS Mini PC PN63-S1 and ExpertCenter PN64. The integrations mean that facial recognition capabilities are baked into the compact processors, which also feature Intel Iris Xe iGPUs. In a statement, CyberLink CEO Jau Huang asserted that “the combination of the processing power and compactness of ASUS Mini PCs means our collaborative solution is easy to deploy in a wide range of environments.”

Certifications

Onfido has been certified as a Digital Identity Service Provider (IDSP) in the United Kingdom under its Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework. The Framework was developed to establish legal guidelines for the remote verification of individuals’ identities across multiple application areas, starting with hiring. As of October 1, employers in the UK are now required to either meet a new hire face-to-face, or perform identity verification remotely through an IDSP. Onfido joins other selfie-based biometrics specialists Yoti and HooYu on the roster of IDSPs.

Airport Biometrics

The Known Traveller Digital Identity project for seamless air travel appears to have been quietly put on hiatus. Initially announced in 2018 as an experimental partnership between Canada, the Netherlands, and the World Economic Forum, the pilot was to use biometrics and blockchain technology to establish document-free travel credentials for participants. Last month, Dutch Migration Minister Eric van der Burg said that there were “no concrete plans” to move forward with the pilot. A spokesperson later explained that KTDI had essentially been displaced by the EU’s biometric Entry/Exit system. But Transport Canada tells the Financial Post that its KTDI team remains active “in the early stages of planning for this project.”

AirAsia customers now have a curb-to-gate biometric screening option at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. AirAsia’s “FACES” facial recognition system has been integrated with Malaysia Airports’ EZPaz system, enabling customers who have enrolled in FACES to pass through the airport without the need to show their boarding pass after check-in.

An Informative Exchange

Multiple hacking groups appear to have gained long-term access to a defence company’s server, according to a new report from CISA, the FBI, and the NSA. The hacking groups exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange to access the undisclosed company’s records, including those pertaining to meetings, contacts, and emails. The report notes that Microsoft accounts for 85 percent of federal government IT infrastructure.

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October 5, 2022 – by Alex Perala

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