India: UIDAI & NPR still at it

This is a "dog bites man" story but it has been a while since we dropped in on the India ID effort...

Govt likely to allow UIDAI to start enrolment in NPR states (CNBC India)

Government is likely to allow on Thursday UIDAI, which issues unique identification numbers to residents, to start enrolments in areas other than 18 states and union territories allocated to it for the purpose.

According to an official source, the Cabinet Committee on Unique identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will discuss a proposal of the Planning Commission to allow UIDAI to start enrolments in states and union territories which were not part of its mandated operations.

UIDAI proposal not taken up by Cabinet due to paucity of time (Business Standard)

A Cabinet Committee could not discuss today the proposal to allow UIDAI to start enrolments in areas other than 18 states and union territories allocated to it, due to paucity of time.

According to an official source, the Cabinet Committee on Unique identification Authority of India (UIDAI) meeting scheduled for today to discuss the proposal was not held as the meeting of the Cabinet took time to decide on LPG cylinder issue and other matters.

Both the committees are headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

For some background on the UIDAI-NPR bad blood, see ID Rivalry Reignites in India.

Target hack investigation looks at vendor ID credentials

Target: Cybercrooks used stolen vendor ID to hack into system (Star Tribune)

Target Corp. said Wednesday that the huge data breach it suffered late last year happened after an intruder stole a vendor’s credentials and used them to gain access to the company’s computer system.

A Target spokeswoman wouldn’t identify the vendor or type of credentials because the retailer is in the midst of forensic and criminal investigations into the malware attack, where cybercrooks hijacked debit and credit card information from up to 110 million people.

I guess it's a start

"password" is no longer the most popular password on the internet.

  The 25 most common passwords of 2013 (CBS News)

According to password management company SplashData, the top three passwords of the year are “123456,” “password” and “12345678.” The top three passwords haven't changed, but "123456" and "password" swapped places from last year. The company's list of the "25 worst passwords of the year" was compiled using data that hackers have posted online, which are said to be stolen passwords.

Bold statement

Apple’s purchase of AuthenTec was the largest acquisition in its history. (Wired)

Biometrics for government accoutability

Fingerprinting to end honeymoon for govt staff (Arab News)

Government employees may soon have to mark their attendance through biometrics, which may rob them of the luxury of coming late or even bunking work.

The proposal to have biometric attendance marking in all public departments was mooted by several monitoring agencies including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha). The move is aimed at ensuring strict and timely attendance of government employees in various sectors.

The findBIOMETRICS 2013 Year in Review is out

Biometrics Makes Headlines – The findBIOMETRICS 2013 Year in Review (findBIOMETRICS)

From Peter O’Neill's introduction:

What a year for the Biometrics and Identification Industry! The past year in biometrics was explosive. Biometrics has become real. From the rapid growth of the FIDO Alliance to the Consumer Electronics Show that hailed in 2014, biometrics are being talked about everywhere! Industry verticals like Border Control, Financial, Healthcare, Law Enforcement, National ID, etc. are all moving aggressively ahead into 2014. Our industry made headlines in 2013 and will continue to do so in 2014, so …be prepared…be innovative …be ready to capitalize on a rapidly growing marketplace.

We received responses from Canada, Spain, Russia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, Sweden, Germany, UK, France, Korea, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Lithuania, Singapore, Japan, Italy, Malaysia and the USA.

Here's a link straight to the 33-page PDF report.

Research points to growth in government biometrics market and future M&A

Govt biometrics market to hit US$6.9bn (Security Document World)

SDI says: “Government identity and border control initiatives, increasing concerns about data security, and an increase in rebel groups and terrorism are expected to boost the demand for biometric identity and security systems over the coming years. As this sector gains prominence, it is expected that large competitors will try to generate competence by acquiring medium and small sized niche firms which will fill the gaps in their products or services portfolio.”

New book on how biometrics age

Book Review: Age Factors in Biometric Processing (M2SYS Blog)

Mr. Fairhurst assembles his book into four primary sections:

1.) An introduction to the aging process and an overview of biometric systems – setting the stage for discussion on how aging can effect individual biometric modalities
2.) A study of how aging effects specific biometric modalities including physiological and behavioral modalities
3.) A closer look at the topic of aging from the perspective of an industrial viewpoint, a forensics perspective, and the impact of aging on one of the more popular biometric modalities – facial recognition
4.) A look to the future and based on the conclusions of this book, what type and the scope of research that may be needed in the future

Samsung to introduce mobile fingerprint tech

Samsung bets on fingerprint tech for Galaxy S5 (The Korea Herald)

After California-based Apple spearheaded fingerprint sensors last year, Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, is poised to feature the sensors in its upcoming smartphone, the Galaxy S5.

Iris will have to wait.