Embedding biometric identifiers in 2D barcodes for improved security.

Two-dimensional (2D) barcode symbology is an emerging technology used for compactly storing and retrieving information. These barcodes can be found on the back of drivers’ licenses and are encoded with secure text data. Standard 2D barcode such as PDF417 uses upper and lowercase alphabets, numeric digits and special characters for encoding. Some barcodes also include a compressed photo of the individual. The visual quality of the compressed image is usually poor and occupies a large amount of space which greatly reduces the capacity needed for encoding text. This paper presents a novel approach for embedding uncompressed images in a standard PDF417 2D barcode using a blind digital watermarking technique. The text is encoded in the standard PDF417 format with error correction, while the face and fingerprint images are watermarked in the encoded 2D barcode. Experimental results show that the proposed technique effectively increased the standard capacity of the PDF417 2D barcode without altering the contents of the encoded data. The results also show that the visual quality of the extracted photo image is high. The extracted fingerprint image when compared with the original fingerprint using an AFIS system yielded a high matching score

Establishing the digital chain of evidence in biometric systems

Traditionally, a chain of evidence or chain of custody refers to the chronological documentation, or paper trail, showing the seizure, custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of evidence, physical or electronic. Whether in the criminal justice system, military applications, or natural disasters, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of such chains is of paramount importance. Intentional or unintentional alteration, tampering, or fabrication of digital evidence can lead to undesirable effects. We find despite the consequences at stake, historically, no unique protocol or standardized procedure exists for establishing such chains. Current practices rely on traditional paper trails and handwritten signatures as the foundation of chains of evidence.;Copying, fabricating or deleting electronic data is easier than ever and establishing equivalent digital chains of evidence has become both necessary and desirable. We propose to consider a chain of digital evidence as a multi-component validation problem. It ensures the security of access control, confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation of origin. Our framework, includes techniques from cryptography, keystroke analysis, digital watermarking, and hardware source identification. The work offers contributions to many of the fields used in the formation of the framework. Related to biometric watermarking, we provide a means for watermarking iris images without significantly impacting biometric performance. Specific to hardware fingerprinting, we establish the ability to verify the source of an image captured by biometric sensing devices such as fingerprint sensors and iris cameras. Related to keystroke dynamics, we establish that user stimulus familiarity is a driver of classification performance. Finally, example applications of the framework are demonstrated with data collected in crime scene investigations, people screening activities at port of entries, naval maritime interdiction operations, and mass fatality incident disaster responses

Contrefaçon des médicaments et stratégies technologiques pour sécuriser la chaîne d'approvisionnement pharmaceutique

RÉSUMÉ La contrefaçon de l’ensemble des produits manufacturés et celle des médicaments en particulier représentent un problème mondial et sérieux dont les répercussions sont importantes sur les plans social et économique. En effet, la contrefaçon des médicaments est inquiétante sur le plan social, car elle peut mettre en danger la santé des patients et la stabilité des systèmes de santé. Sur le plan économique, le volume de médicaments contrefaits représente aujourd’hui près de 10% du volume total de médicaments et est estimé à près de 75 milliards (USD) en 2010, soit une augmentation de 92% par rapport à 2005. La contrefaçon des médicaments enlève aux entreprises pharmaceutiques des revenus substantiels, nuit à l’innovation puisque les efforts innovateurs et les investissements en recherche et développement ne sont pas justement récompensés, prive les gouvernements de recettes fiscales et impose des coûts supplémentaires directement liés aux mesures anti-contrefaçon (contrôle accrus du réseau de distribution, renforcement des dispositifs législatifs, etc.). Les stratégies anti-contrefaçon reposent principalement sur trois axes : un cadre législatif plus contraignant et des sanctions plus sévères, une sensibilisation accrue des consommateurs sur les effets néfastes de la contrefaçon notamment pour leur santé et leur sécurité et enfin, un recours aux technologies plus sophistiquées. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous avons retenu l’axe technologique. L’objectif général est donc d’analyser et évaluer l’efficacité des stratégies technologiques qui pourraient sécuriser la chaîne d’approvisionnement pharmaceutique, afin de prévenir les insertions de produits frauduleux sur le marché et ainsi de préserver l’intégrité et l’authenticité des médicaments en circulation et ce, jusqu’à leur dispensation aux patients.---------- ABSTRACT Counterfeit products in general and counterfeit medicines in particular constitute a serious global phenomenon with important social and economic impacts. Counterfeit medicines are indeed a great social concern since they may have adverse effects on patients’ health and on the healthcare systems’ steadiness. On the economic side, counterfeit medicines represent 10% of the total amount of medicines traded today and will reach 75 billion (USD) in 2010, a 92% increase since 2005. Counterfeit medicines generate substantial lost revenues for pharmaceuticals companies and discourage innovation and research and development activities. They also entail a reduction in tax revenues and require additional costs for anti-counterfeiting measures (increased controls in the drug distribution network, reinforcement of legal systems, etc.) There are three key dimensions for anti-counterfeiting strategies. The first focuses on the reinforcement of legal systems and the establishment of more serious penal sanctions for counterfeiters. The second dimension aims at rising awareness among consumers on the disastrous effects of counterfeit medicines consumption. Finally, the third dimension relies on the use of more sophisticated technologies which is the main focus of our research. The overall objective here is to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of technological strategies in order to secure the pharmaceutical supply chain, by preventing the insertion of fraudulent products in the legal drug supply chain. The main goal is therefore to ensure products integrity and authenticity all along the supply chain, from the active ingredients manufacturers until the dispense to patients. Efficient technological strategies leverage on 1) traceability using a unique numerical identifier at unit level (mass serialization) 2) verification systems allowing to identify medicines by checking unique identifiers at one point of the drug supply like the point of dispense, also called end-to-end verification systems, or all along the supply chain, also known as e-pedigree verification systems) and 3) traceability technologies, namely the two-dimensional matrix barcode called Datamatrix and the radiofrequency identification technologies (RFID)