Press Release

Smartcard Finger-Match Add-on for VeriFinger and MegaMatcher is Now Available for the Implementation of Biometric Fingerprint-on-Smartcard Verification Systems

Vilnius, Lithuania – October 1, 2007 – Neurotechnologija, a provider of high-precision biometric identification technologies, today announced the availability of the Smartcard Finger-Match Add-On for the company's VeriFinger and MegaMatcher fingerprint identification engines. Smartcard Finger-Match makes use of smartcard technology to store and verify biometric fingerprint information on the card itself, allowing individuals to maintain and protect their own information. Smartcard Finger-Match provides an extra level of security compared to either smart cards or fingerprint identification alone, and when coupled with Neurotechnologija's powerful VeriFinger or MegaMatcher fingerprint template generation algorithms, Smartcard Finger-Match provides the enhanced speed, accuracy and reliability required for high security applications such as passport and visa control, secured entry access, financial transactions and medical data access.

In a simple fingerprint scanning system, biometric information must be stored, retrieved and matched on the scanner side of the system. With the match on card technology of Smartcard Finger-Match, the original reference template of unique biometric information, in this case a fingerprint, is stored on the smartcard. The matching of fingerprint templates takes place in a microprocessor embedded in the card and personal biometric information does not transfer to an external computer as it would in a more basic template-on-card system. For example, when a subject is being screened, the subject's fingerprint is scanned using an external reader and the biometric features (also known as a candidate template) are passed to the smart card where the matching process against the reference template takes place. Only the final verification decision is passed back to the external reader. If the decision is positive then the user is provided access to the confidential information or services for which verification was required. Otherwise, the user may be allowed to retry scanning a fingerprint until it is authenticated.

Smartcard Finger-Match provides a number of advantages over simple smartcard or fingerprint identification systems, including:

• Enhanced security – two-factor authentication checks both the validity of the smartcard and the identity of the person presenting the card;
• Privacy – the original template remains on the smartcard, providing a safeguard against misuse of information or fraudulent scanning systems;
• Integration – implementing the system will not require major overhauls of existing infrastructure.

"The Smartcard Finger-Match add-on brings the speed and accuracy of our algorithms into the realm of smartcard technology, and we believe this extension of our products will be of interest to many of our customers worldwide," said Algimantas Malickas, CEO of Neurotechnologija.

The matching algorithm may be used on any smart card implementing the JavaCard 2.2.1 standard and having 20 KB of EEPROM and 1.6 KB of RAM (these cards are widely available). The add-on is developed utilizing a set of ISO/IEC standards (7816-3:2006, 7816-4:2005, 7816-11:2004, 19794-2:2005) enabling interoperability with and easy integration into existing smart card and/or biometric systems.

Sample applets included in the Add-On enable to perform verification on the card in 2 seconds. However algorithm can be configured to give priority to accuracy or speed and memory usage.

About Neurotechnologija

Neurotechnologija provides biometric fingerprint and face identification algorithms and software development products to security companies, system integrators and hardware manufacturers. More than 1000 system integrators and fingerprint sensor providers worldwide integrate Neurotechnologija's technologies into their own products.

Drawing from years of academic research in the fields of neuroinformatics, image processing and pattern recognition, Neurotechnologija was founded in 1990 in Vilnius, Lithuania and released its first fingerprint identification system in 1991. Since that time Neurotechnologija has released more than 30 products and version upgrades for identification and verification of personal identity. For more information, visit: www.neurotechnologija.com/

Media Contact

Jennifer Allen Newton
Bluehouse Consulting Group, Inc.
+1-503-805-7540
jennifer (at) bluehousecg.com