NRI Announces Availability of Human Authentication Application Program Interface Specification To Promote Interchangeability of Biometric Technologies
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TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Registry Inc. (NASDAQ:NRID)(NRI), today announced the availability of the Human Authentication Application Program Interface (API) specification. This API specification provides a set of standard program names and functions and is intended to promote the rapid integration and interchangeability of various types of biometric technologies within systems applications such as network user authentication and other automated identification functions. This API is intended to be used both by application software product developers who wish to integrate biometric technology into their applications as well as by biometric vendors who wish to adopt their technologies for use within open
system application environments.
The Human Authentication API was developed by NRI under contract with an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense with the objective that the refinement and widespread adoption of a generalized biometric API will lead to interchangeability of biometric technologies within a broad range of applications and to encourage the expanded use of biometrics in general. The Human Authentication API specification and initial Windows-based software code will be made available at no cost to all interested parties. NRI also intends to modify its commercial line of finger image-based products to be fully compliant with the Human Authentication API specification. These products include NRI's Secure Authentication Facility for Windows NT (SAF/NT), Secure Authentication Facility for Microsoft Internet Information Server (SAF/IIS), Secure Authentication Facility for Computer Associates Unicenter TNG (SAF/TNG) and the NRIdentity Solution Set(TM) software developer's toolkit.
The Human Authentication API specification has been published through the Internet by the U.S. Biometric Consortium which serves as the U.S. Government's focal point for research, development, test, evaluation, and application of biometric-based personal identification/verification technology. The Human Authentication API document can be found at biometrics.org and is listed under the "Publications" section. Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments on the technical content of the Human Authentication API directly to NRI for possible incorporation into future revisions. According to Dr. Joseph Campbell, Chairman of the U.S. Biometric Consortium, "Many benefits should be realized with acceptance of a biometric API. Customers and users who may be hesitant to commit to a specific biometric solution can now easily add diverse biometrics to their many existing applications." NRI will present a technical briefing on the Human Authentication API at the Tenth U.S. Biometric Consortium conference in San Jose, CA on December 9, 1997.
John Gustafson, President and CEO of NRI said, "This interface standard should accelerate the commercial development of applications that use biometrics for positive identification purposes. We applaud the U.S. Department of Defense for taking the lead in promoting the development of a common set of instructions that enable the integration of a wide range of biometric technologies including fingerprint, facial recognition and speaker verification."
The National Registry Inc., based in Tampa, FL, brings The Power of Positive Identification(TM) to business and government. The Company develops and delivers products and services that provide biometric identification and authentication for information systems and networks. The Company's cost-effective finger image-based hardware and software products can be used to verify individual identity, to replace or enhance password security, and to authenticate user access to Internet servers. Further information is available through NRI's World Wide Web Site: nrid.com.
NRIdentity and The Power of Positive Identification are trademarks of The National Registry Inc. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE National Registry Inc. |
