In The Boardroom With...

Mr. David Harding
SVP & Chief Technical Officer

ImageWare Systems, Inc. 

Updated July 31, 2019

Biointellic Launches as ImageWare Systems' New Intelligent Anti-spoofing System to Strengthen Identity Proofing and User Authentication

ImageWare Systems, Inc. (OTCQB:IWSY), a leader in mobile and cloud-based identity proofing and biometric authentication solutions, today announced the integration of the Biointellic(tm) Intelligent Anti-spoofing System into its existing Digital Identity Platform. This
enhancement enables businesses to further increase the security of their systems without increasing friction. The business benefits include mitigating the risk of costly identity fraud and data breaches, without impacting user adoption and abandonment rates.

Biointellic is a zero-friction, anti-spoofing system that is used on standard smartphones. The frictionless solution is incorporated into ImageWare's existing facial recognition capabilities with the anti-spoofing detection performed on the server, reducing the chance of data breaches and unauthorized user access caused by spoofing. Biointellic does not require special hardware, nor subjects the user to unnatural movements or flashing
lights, making the enhancement a seamless upgrade for enterprises and end-users alike. Biointellic provides anti-spoofing analysis to prevent fraudsters from surreptitiously impersonating someone by using photos, videos, or 3D masks for the purpose of fraudulently accessing systems and accounts.

Biointellic is being certified by iBeta, which is accredited by NIST to perform Presentation Attack Detection testing in accordance with the ISO/IEC 30107-3 standard, to become the only face authentication system that is frictionless and uses top-rated NIST face matching solutions.

"With increased demand from IT security professionals, and businesses in general, for true identity authentication, biometric authentication systems must be strengthened with anti-spoofing capabilities," said David Harding, CTO at ImageWare Systems. "Passwords can be easily compromised, 2FA can be phished, and facial biometrics can be spoofed. Only intelligent anti-spoofing, combined with identity proofing and biometric authentication,
enable enterprises to ensure true user identity."

Biointellic's key capabilities include:

* Intelligent anti-spoofing technology, using neural networks and machine learning, to detect presentation attacks including the use of photos, videos, and 3D masks.
* Zero-friction user experience using a standard selfie without the need of extra movements, maximizing user experience.
* Device independent, working on nearly any smartphone and other devices enabling organizations and users to leverage their existing hardware.
* Flexible and future-proof in its ability to use any face matching vendor, specifically top-rated NIST face biometric vendors.
* Turnkey SaaS solution, enabling customers to use the system immediately without any software installation. If desired, the service can be installed on any public or private cloud system, or on-premise.
* Dynamically scalable to handle peak loads, using standard container technology.

"Biometric authentication has the rare capability to simultaneously improve user experience and security," said Ben Goodman, Senior Vice President, Global Business and Corporate Development at ForgeRock. "By implementing anti-spoofing technology on the server-side, ImageWare provides protection against a variety of sophisticated attacks while ensuring the best possible user experience is preserved."

"Facial recognition solutions are being rapidly adopted, and with that progress, the sophistication of security threats increases," said Vic Herring, Vice President, Head of Global Software Center, Fujitsu Technology and Business America. "Enterprises are now more than ever taking their security seriously, and with Biointellic Intelligent Anti-spoofing System, Fujitsu customers can experience even more peace of mind knowing presentation attacks will be caught."

Focusing on the industry's most immediate needs, Biointellic first provides a security solution for facial recognition and ImageWare plans to expand its anti-spoofing technologies to address voice, palm images, and other biometric types.

Read more about the need for anti-spoofing technology here.

Click here for more information.  

Updated May 14, 2019

David Harding, SVP and Chief Technical Officer, ImageWare Systems, Discusses Growing Worldwide Traction of Biometric Authentication

David Harding, SVP & Chief Technical Officer, ImageWare® Systems, Inc. (OTCQB: IWSY), a leader in mobile and cloud-based two-factor, multi-factor, and biometric multimodal authentication and identity management solutions, sat down with Mobile ID World to talk about cybersecurity threats and the global growth of biometric authentication.

For the complete discussion, click here: https://blog.iwsinc.com/cto-david-harding-interview.

Important Highlights from that Discussion:

Mobile ID World: ImageWare recently introduced the ImageWare Digital Identity Platform, what makes this new solution standout in the biometrics market and how does it fit in with the rest of ImageWare’s product line?

David Harding: The ImageWare Digital Identity Platform combines the most robust identity proofing capabilities with the broadest and most complete set of multi-factor and biometric authentication methods. We have always had a robust platform and a robust set of products for two-factor and multi-factor identity authentication as well as full identification capabilities. But now, with complete integration of all these products, all factors of identity proofing and authentication are combined into a cohesive product set. This allows our customers to create and manage digital and biometric identities using fully vetted government issued documents, reliable biometric authentication, and a fully managed digital identity life cycle.

Mobile ID World: High profile data breaches and the way we work has changed with the rise of the sharing economy, remote contract workers – making identity proofing and authentication an important aspect of the enterprise discussion. How does ImageWare’s Digital Identity Platform fit into this new modern workplace?

David Harding: To answer that allow me to highlight a few of our key strengths in that area:

One – we can use any type of authentication device: mobile devices, desktops, laptops, physical access control devices, anything.

Two – we integrate not just at the endpoint but at the enterprise authentication source. We are directly integrated into Windows Active Directory for both two-factor and multi-factor biometric authentication. We do the same thing with Linux, IBM ISAM, ForgeRock, CA SSO, SAP HANA, and more.

Three - we are verifying the identity prior to enrollment. That ensures that the identity enrolled is the identity in question.

Mobile ID World: You mentioned some of ImageWare’s partners and you have a really impressive partner network including big names like Fujitsu, IBM, Verizon, ForgeRock, among others. What makes a robust partner network so important in today’s biometrics landscape?

David Harding: The companies that you have mentioned are leaders in scalable identity management. However, they are not leaders in scalable multimodal biometric platforms that can support hundreds of millions of identities across multiple biometric modalities. So, the partnerships we have cultivated are very symbiotic and complementary. 

Our competitors often make similar promises.  However, they don’t provide the scalability nor the depth of capability and features based on the depth of our multimodal intellectual property and multi-patented technology.  That’s why our partnerships are such a great fit.

Mobile ID World: ImageWare is already established in healthcare and is seen as something of a pioneer for bringing biometrics to that space. How has the healthcare biometrics market changed in recent years and what do you see as driving this new interest?

David Harding:   Personal healthcare information is extremely personal, sensitive, and it doesn’t change. It’s shocking that the vast majority of health records are secured by PINs and passwords, which have an 81 percent failure rate.

To that point, ImageWare Systems recently announced that a global leading payments and financial technology provider has selected our GoVerifyID biometric authentication solution. 

Congress passed the 21^st Century Cures Act in 2016 that mandates states implement Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) for all Medicaid personal care and all health services beginning in 2020.

So, we see healthcare just as you do - a rapidly expanding market for multimodal biometrics.

Mobile ID World: Taking on a wider picture of everything, and we have touched on some of this already, but what are some highlights of ImageWare’s 2019 so far?

David Harding:  Well 2019 is gearing up to be an exciting year and what can you expect to see from us? More and better - - more partners, more integrations, more biometric options, better platform enhancements including increased scalability and efficiency and most importantly, more success.