The stock has moved down this morning on the lack of anything new coming out of the company ahead of the annual meeting.
I received some further details about the technology and was encouraged to attend the meeting on DEC 14th to "see for yourself" why the company is excited about their device.
The claim is that it provides a greater level of security compared to conventional finger print reading devices while lowering the cost. I am still trying to understand the literature that was given to me but The way I understand the system works is by using the finger print as an encryption mechanism analogous to the "public key" in the pervasive security encryption systems found on computers, (your PC), rather than relying on the finger print itself. This takes advantage of currently used encryption technology combined with an interpreted finger scan technology - it's not just a simple finger print reading. In other words, the scan is encrypted at the image level. This isn't an analog operation in the sense that it does not have temperamental analog operations that can vary with environmental conditions. The problem with some analog circuits is that they suffer from repeatability as changes in such things as temperature, and input voltage can effect the measurement. The delSecur device does not care what these absolute levels are - only how they compare relative to the scan at the moment of the reading. Therefore they are highly repeatable given inexpensive circuits and assembly techniques. The analog operation derives the interpreted image imprint which is used as a decryption "key" in the security system. Extremely clever and unique!
When you use your computer or enter your card in an automatic teller, the system generates an encryption key that encrypts the message and sends it to the destination where it can be decrypted. The patented delSecur method uses the uniqueness of a persons finger to derive the encryption key rather than the unique encryption key account information stored in the computer. This is an important distinction between the delSecur system and traditional finger print reading devices from companies such as Identix. The problem with encryption systems on your PC or other devices is that it is fixed to your system. You can't take that encryption scheme and carry it with you to the teller machine and it doesn't change the need to input some form of identification. With the delSecur system, your finger print becomes the traveling encryption key.
I looked into this more carefully because of the issues raised about the device and how it will compete with other devices on the market. The need is for a system that is highly transportable and is able to be reduced in cost, size and other factors and yet provides a high degree of reliability and repeatability. The ideal system also would NOT require a repository of finger prints be stored by the government or some other authority. Think about it. The issue of everyone having their print taken and stored by a central authority is abhorrent to freedom loving democracies. With the Identix and other systems, your finger print is stored in some central location and then is compared to the print reading.
Ideally, the system must fit intimately into the structure of data encryption and decryption currently developed for data transmission and Internet and wireless applications. Just taking a finger print reading (that can theoretically be intercepted before it is encrypted) and piggy backing that onto a secure data transmission system is a less effective and less secure approach. In the delSecur system the finger scan is "encrypted" by the device at the sensor component level, it can't be read in any useful form and is inherently more secure. In addition to being more secure, because the delSecur system uses the finger print as an encryption "key" rather than relying on it as an absolute reading, it is much more tolerant to reading problems, such as dirty fingers, moisture, etc.
This is a unique approach and should be highly protect able (patents) and guarded proprietary technology.
I will have more a bit latter as I am scheduled to talk to the inventor to get more of an understanding of this stuff and it's implications for delSecur. |
