Terrorist attacks the world over have raised security concerns. The perpetrators of such heinous crimes are getting smarter and there is a need for foolproof identity systems. This is where the semiconductor industry can make a significant contribution.
One such is the use of smart cards where the use of security chips allows only the authorized persons to see or change stored data. Based on chip card technology, companies and authorities can, grant individual access authorization for buildings, services and digital data. This would make identity documents, such as identity cards, passports or driver's licenses, insurance certificates and other documents increasingly forgery-proof.
Perhaps biometrics, the use of a person’s biological characteristics for personal identification and authentication holds the greatest promise. Fingerprint, iris-scan, retinal-scan, voiceprint, signature, handprint and facial features are some of the most common types of human biometrics, whereas common types of behavioural biometric technologies are the signature and voice patterns of an individual. The key advantage of biometrics over traditional forms of user authentication is that it cannot be lost, forgotten, stolen or duplicated with ease.
Businesses have been using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID, a method for uniquely identifying an object using a tag or module that carries a unique ID number, or code. An RFID system has a radio-enabled device that communicates with, or interrogates a tag or label, which contains an embedded single chip processor and antenna. RFID systems can read the information on a tag without requiring line of sight or a particular orientation. This allows RFID systems to be largely automated, reducing the necessity of manual scanning for exceptions management. Identification can be made using wireless (RF, or radio-wave) connection, meaning no line-of-sight or physical contact is needed. There are many different ways to achieve RFID and many applications including pet ID, identification of parts on an assembly line, tracking goods in manufacturing, at airports and retail settings.
By Gernot Heiser, Open Kernel Labs Kerckhoffs' principle, formulated by a 19th century Dutch mathematician, is the accepted basis for strong security.It was originally formulated for crypto algorithms, where it stated that an encryption system must not depend on the security of the algorithms, only the keys.