Press releases
01 - 29 - 2013 - Athena Adopts id3 Match on Card Solutions
Athena Smartcard Solutions and id3 Technologies are happy to announce they have signed a partnership agreement that will allow Athena customers to benefit from id3 Minex-recognized next-generation match on card security.
GRENOBLE, France and CUPERTINO, Calif., USA, January 29, 2013 – Under the terms of the agreement signed with id3, Athena Smartcard Solutions will integrate id3 match on card algorithm, and embed id3 match on card algorithm aboard all its operating systems and cards. Thanks to id3 technology, Athena cards will bring easy to use and cost efficient security to the enterprise security and government identity environments.
Athena Smartcard Solutions will now include id3 match on card algorithm in all its cards, regardless whether they use a JavaCard-based or proprietary operating system. Athena Smartcard Solutions delivers integrated systems for enterprise security, and government identity.
“We are very pleased to have chosen id3 solutions. We experienced the integration was completed in less than a month, a far better performance than any competitors’ product. The ease of development based on id3 solution comes both from the complete development tools delivered by id3 and from the outstanding expertise of their technical support”, said Masaru Kosaka, President of Athena Smartcard Solutions.
“Having our match on card solutions embedded by Athena in all their cards means our products will be in the hands of numerous professional users. Athena customers in Enterprise Security and in Government ID segments will benefit from the latest match on card technology”, added Jean-Louis Revol, CEO of id3 Technologies.
In addition, Athena Smartcard Solutions will adopt id3 extractor, the part of id3 match on card software suite that performs the analysis of a fingerprint, finds minutiae, and stores them.
Match on card technology consists in comparing a fingerprint presented by a user with a stored fingerprint in a secure environment such as a smart card. Match on card technology brings security and cost efficiency as the comparison is performed in the smart card chip, in a secure manner, without having to send fingerprint data to a terminal or a remote server. Match on card technology is typically performed in three steps: fingerprint acquisition, fingerprint treatment, and extraction of minutiae (major features of a fingerprint used as a base for matching).
About id3 Technologies
Based in Grenoble, France, id3 Technologies, has developed an array of products and services since 1990. id3 is recognized as one of the best experts in biometrics, and has already delivered 150 million licenses of its match on card algorithm. id3 Technologies employs more than 30 engineers, recognized for their high level of expertise in biometric algorithms, product development and systems integration. id3 expert knowledge covers all steps in a fingerprint verification chain: image acquisition, image treatment, and minutiae extraction. All id3 Technologies products, corresponding to each step are certified by NIST Minex, according to INCITS 378 and Minex II (evaluation of the accuracy and speed of match on card verification algorithms).
About Athena
Athena Smartcard Solutions, one of the industry's fastest growing vendors, is a leading provider of smart cards, tokens, smart card readers and smart card management systems - protecting computer networks - and an innovative supplier of cards and operating systems for banking and GSM. Athena's offices in the US, UK, EMEA, and Asia serve customers worldwide including some of the world's leading banks, manufactures, GSM operators and Government organizations. Athena's products include Common Criteria EAL4+ and FIPS 140-2 and 201/PIV certified contact, contactless and dual interface open platform and file system based cryptographic smart cards for Windows Authentication, PIV, CNS/CIE, JICSAP, GSM, and EMV.
Contacts:
For id3 Technologies:
For Athena Smartcard Solutions:
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09 - 17 - 2012 - id3 fingerprint algorithms ranked #2 and #3 in NIST - MINEX tests
id3 Technologies is proud to announce its algorithms have been ranked #2 and #3 by NIST-controlled “MINEX Ongoing” tests that measure performance and interoperability of fingerprint algorithms.
GRENOBLE, France, September 17, 2012 – id3 Technologies has been ranked #2 and #3 by MINEX Ongoing tests, a performance demonstrating the high performance level of id3 fingerprint matching algorithms.
Under the control of NIST (US National Institute of Standards and Technology), MINEX Ongoing tests cover the two parts of fingerprint testing:
- “Template generator” is the algorithm that converts a fingerprint image into fingerprint minutiae data that can be stored in a smart card or on a database,
- “Template matcher” is the algorithm that compares stored fingerprint minutiae data with a new fingerprint presented on a scanner.
Fingerprints are stored according to the ANSI-INCITS 378 standard format allowing automatic recognition and interoperability. Typically tests measure the level of matching, false acceptation, and false rejection, on a wide sample of fingerprints.
This ranking shows the outstanding performance of id3 algorithms, which deliver a high level of accuracy, along with low false acceptation / false rejection rates. This way, companies who implement id3 algorithms can ensure their products will pass easily tests both for the US market, including FIPS-201 for PIV (the Federal Personal Identity Verification) program and for other markets as id3 algorithms follow the standardized (ISO/IEC 19794-2) interchange formats for finger minutiae.
“id3 ranking with MINEX Ongoing tests demonstrates the high level of performance delivered by our algorithms. This performance level is the result of our long-standing experience, and broad set of biometrics applications”, said Jean-Louis Revol, CEO and co-founder of id3 Technologies.
About MINEX:
Run under the auspices of NIST (US National Institute of Standards and Technology), the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test (MINEX) is an ongoing evaluation of the INCITS 378 fingerprint template. The test program provides measurements of performance and interoperability of core template encoding and matching capabilities to users, vendors and interested parties, and establishes compliance for template encoders and matchers for the United States Government's Personal Identity Verification (PIV) program. The Ongoing MINEX program evaluates template encoding and matching software submitted to NIST in the form of an SDK library.
About id3 Technologies:
Based in Grenoble, France, id3 Technologies, has developed an array of products and services since 1990. id3 is recognized as one of the best experts in biometrics, and has already delivered more than 30 million licenses of its match on card algorithm. id3 Technologies employs more than 30 engineers, recognized for their high level of expertise in biometric algorithms, product development and systems integration. id3 expert knowledge covers all steps in a fingerprint verification chain: image acquisition, image treatment, and minutiae extraction. All id3 Technologies products, corresponding to each step are certified by NIST Minex, according to INCITS 378 and Minex II (evaluation of the accuracy and speed of match on card verification algorithms).
Contact:
For id3 Technologies:
Laurent LEPETIT, VP Sales, laurent.lepetit@id3.eu, +33 4 76 75 75 85
08 - 08 - 2012 - id3 changes and becomes id3 Technologies
"id3 Semiconductors" changes its corporate name and is now called "id3 Technologies".
«This change reflects the strategic evolution initiated last few years», said Jean-Louis Revol, CEO and co-founder of id3. «We provide our customers with leading-edge solutions to help them to solve their challenging projects. We are also continuing to invest in R&D to develop our offer: electronic signature, AFIS full solution, next-gen biometrics SDK, RFID long range reading … To name only our latest realizations to date. The term “Technologies” is more accurate to describe the innovative culture of id3».
About id3 Technologies
Founded in 1990 by experienced engineers from STMicroelectronics, id3 Technologies (id3 Semiconductors at that time) has developed many innovations and known many achievements.
Developing solutions for fingerprint recognition and contactless reading technologies for over 15 years, id3 is recognized worldwide for its know-how and its strong partnerships. Its renown is due to its role as a precursor in Match On Card technology and to performances obtained during the MINEX certification process - its biometrics algorithms are among the highest ranked in the world - and in the field, id3 has proved many times its efficiency and reactivity in comples projects in harsh environmental conditions, when others failed.
But far from resting on its laurels, id3 Technologies provides and will provide always continued efforts to improve its technologies, to offer its customers the best solutions suitable to meet any technological challenges they are facing and to continue its global presence.
07 - 09 - 2012 - id3, sponsor of an ISO (International Organisation for Normalization) meeting in Paris
id3, sponsor of the ISO’s meeting in July 2012, Paris
The French Association for Normalization (AFNOR) is holding a meeting organized by the ISO (International Organisation for Normalization) from the 8th to the 17th of July in Paris, gathering more than 120 experts in biometrics from all around the world. The objective is to enhance the international norms for biometrics through 6 working groups:
WG1: Harmonized biometric vocabulary
WG2: Biometric technical interface
WG3: Biometric Data Interchange Formats
WG4: Biometric functional architecture and related profiles
WG5: Biometric performance testing and reporting
WG6: Cross-jurisdictional and societal aspects
id3 is sponsoring this event, and two of its experts will be present all along the week to participate to the debates.
To know more about the AFNOR: http://www.afnor.org/
To know more about the ISO: http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm?=
09 - 01 - 2010 - US Security Agency unveils outstanding performance from id3 Fingerprint Recognition Technology
Le Fontanil, September 10th, 2010,
id3 Semiconductors, a global provider of fingerprint recognition solutions, today announced that the company’s fingerprint recognition technology has demonstrated outstanding performance in a multivendor evaluation conducted by the NIST US Agency.
The NIST MINEX test results were released on September the 1st, 2010 and showing that id3’s fingerprint template extractor leads to the lowest error rate to date in fingerprint verification, outperforming all previously submitted extractors from more than 20 vendors, including well-known biometric market leaders. The company’s template matcher also recorded excellent results.
This achievement establishes the compliance of id3’s technology with US government's PIV program and demonstrates its ability to efficiently extract and compare fingerprint standardized information, even from poor quality images. It is also completely independent of the sensing technology used for fingerprint image capture, including optical, capacitive and thermal sensors.
The complete MINEX results can be found at http://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/ig/ominex_test-results.cfm. id3’s fingerprint template extractor (2Y) reached a top-level 0.24% false non-match rate at a fixed 0.01 false match for two fingers.
id3’s certified technology is already featured in the id3 Fingerprint Software Development Kit, for integration of state-of-the-art, standardized and sensor independent fingerprint verification on a computer. In combination with its Fingerprint On-Card Comparison technology (certified by MINEX II on June 2009), id3 can provide a complete biometric solution ensuring very high security while preserving user’s privacy.
About NIST MINEX Evaluation
Conducted by NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology) and sponsored by the Justice Management Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security US-VISIT program, the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test (MINEX) provides measurements of performance and interoperability between different vendors using standardized minutiae data. It also establishes the compliance with the United States Government's Personal Identity Verification (PIV) program.
About id3 Semiconductors
Founded in 1990, id3 Semiconductors is a high technology company focused on providing high value added biometric hardware and software components. These technologies target security applications, including identity and privacy protection, permissions management and e-ID documents readout. The company offers a unique set of biometrics technological elements:
- MINEX II certified on-card fingerprint matcher,
- Fingerprint SDK including MINEX compliant algorithms and WSQ image compression,
- Fingerprint recognition modules
Today, over 20 million licenses of the id3's On-Card-Comparison have been sold.
id3 Semiconductors also provides consulting services for the development of effective solutions, worldwide.
06 - 12 - 2009 - Oberthur/id3 Fingerprint On-Card Comparison biometrics meets NIST Criteria
Paris June 12th , 5.45 pm
On 9 June 2009, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published the results of Phase III of the MINEX II program.
MINEX II evaluates the performances of fingerprint matching algorithms running on smart cards. The main advantage of On-Card Comparison is to enhance security and user privacy since the reference biometric data never leaves the card. It provides a very secure way of authenticating the card holder.
Oberthur Technologies/id3 On-Card comparison is one of two technologies that have successfully met NIST criteria.
The report clearly shows the capacity of the Oberthur/id3 algorithm to deliver exceptional performances in terms of interoperability, accuracy and speed, while maintaining an error rate lower than the thresholds defined in the US government's PIV program. The algorithm is the fruit of joint development by Oberthur Technologies and id3 Semiconductors, which have been working together since 1999 when the first proof of concept of On-Card Comparison was demonstrated.
Regardless of which of the 19 approved vendors were used to extract the fingerprint minutiae of 123,962 individuals, the Oberthur /id3 matcher demonstrated high accuracy with an error rate of under 0.55%. The algorithm not only exceeds PIV specifications, but is also the fastest to date with an average of 0.28 seconds per positive match. Another advantage, and not the least, is its very low consumption of processor resources (<3kB code, 1kB data), which facilitates implementation on a smart card. The On-Card algorithm was validated on Oberthur's Java platform, ID-OneTM Cosmo.
This result opens the way to large-scale rollout of smartcard-embedded biometric verification technologies, doing away with the proprietary constraints imposed previously by the capture equipment used for enrollment or verification.
"By validating fingerprint comparison technology embedded on smart cards based exclusively on ISO/IEC 7816-11 and ISO/IEC 19794-2 standards, the NIST demonstrates the feasibility of implementing standardized solutions for rapid, interoperable matching with a high degree of accuracy, while remaining completely independent of the infrastructure used," said Christophe Goyet, Technical Marketing Director Identity for Oberthur North America."
"Recognition by the NIST of our On-Card algorithm rewards the work we have done over the last 10 years to promote adoption of this technology, which is less demanding in infrastructure and respects citizens' privacy. By successfully testing its performances, the NIST proved the maturity of On-Card comparison, thereby opening the way to numerous applications," commented Jean-Louis Revol, President of id3 Semiconductors.
About id3 Semiconductors
Founded in 1990, id3 Semiconductors is a company specialized in the conception and design of integrated circuits, electronic appliances and applications with emphasis on radio frequency (RF), contactless (RFID) and biometry deployment.
id3's innovations are available as hardware components or IP blocs, such as algorithms and software.
These technologies target security applications, including identity and privacy protection, permissions management, e-ID documents readout.
id3 is also a consulting company committed to offer customers all services required to find effective solutions and fulfil their objectives.
About Oberthur Technologies
With sales of 882.7 million Euros in 2008, Oberthur Technologies is a world leader in the field of secure technologies. Innovation and high quality services ensure Oberthur Technologies’ strong positioning in its main target markets:
- Card Systems: One of the world’s leading providers of security and identification based on smart card technology and associated services for mobile, payment, transport, digital TV and convergence markets.
- Identity: International player for the manufacture and personalization of secure identity documents such as passport, identity card, driving license or health care card - traditional and electronic - and associated services for both governmental and corporate markets.
- Fiduciary printing: World’s third largest private security printer specialized in high security for the production of banknotes, checks and other fiduciary documents in more than fifty countries.
- Cash protection: World leader in the emerging market of intelligent systems to secure cash-in-transit and ATM.
Close to its customers, Oberthur Technologies benefits from an industrial and commercial presence across all five continents.
08 - 04 - 2008 - Long range UHF reader
The UHF technology of id3 embedded in the new long range reader of Orcanthus.
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