Author: 
Arab News
Publication Date: 
Tue, 2005-11-01 03:00

Buffalo Technology has introduced Secure Lock Ware, a free-to-download tool which allows data held on Buffalo’s portable storage media to be encrypted using a simple password. The security tool allows the user to protect Buffalo’s USB flash drives, external hard drives and built-in secondary drives, ensuring that sensitive personal and business information is kept away from prying eyes. The entire device may be protected with no reduction in transfer speeds. Alternatively, individual files or folders may be protected, giving the user control over who sees what. It may also be used to encrypt attachments sent by e-mail. Buffalo DriveStations, MiniStations, Portable HDDs and FireStix may all be encrypted using Secure Lock Ware once it is downloaded onto the PC, making it one of the most versatile solutions on the market.

“The rising use of mobile computing raises significant security issues when portable devices are lost or stolen,” said Gerardine Lynch, product marketing manager at Buffalo. “Secure Lock Ware incorporates the most advanced encryption methods available in order to protect everything from personal financial information to corporate customer details and business plans.”

Secure Lock Ware can be downloaded free of charge at: http://www.buffalotechnology.com/slw.

Pakistan Fights Fraud Using Viisage Solution

According to Viisage, a leading provider of advanced technology identity solutions, the Pakistani government is successfully using Viisage’s face recognition technology and a leading finger print technology to fight identify theft and fraud.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), an independent corporate organization on contract to the Pakistani government to run the country’s smart passport and national ID program, has uncovered multiple instances of fraud to date. NADRA subsequently issued a countrywide alert in July 2005 through The News, Pakistan’s leading English newspaper, notifying those holding fraudulent identity documents that they had been caught and will be pursued if they do not turn in their identity cards.

“Viisage’s FaceTOOLS and FaceEXPLORER products are powerful investigative tools for exposing fraud in our national ID and passport programs,” said Brig. Saleem Ahmad Moeen, chairman of NADRA. “In less than a year, this solution has helped us define the extent of the identity fraud problem in Pakistan and increase security for the country.”

Using the Viisage solution, NADRA was able to enroll 34 million existing images and scan them for duplicates, all in the space of three months. Pakistan’s database is expected to grow to 50 million records when the enrollment phase is completed. This approach has helped Pakistan uncover existing identity fraud in the country’s passport and national ID program and to head off future instances. NADRA uses the face recognition technology to compare 21,000 new applicant images a day to the entire database and thus prevent fraud before it occurs. NADRA is catching up to 109 fraudulent records daily, thereby blocking the processing of these fraudulent records.

Based on the success of the joint NADRA-Viisage solution in Pakistan, Viisage and NADRA have signed an agreement to actively pursue opportunities to help Middle Eastern, South American and Asian countries manage their large national ID programs and databases.

AGMA & KPMG Spotlight Counterfeiting

The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA) has teamed with KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm, to issue a whitepaper titled “Managing the Risks of Counterfeiting in the Information Technology Industry.” As counterfeiting becomes one of the most challenging issues for the IT industry, with illegal replicas of brandname high-technology products flooding the marketplace, AGMA and KPMG collaborated to reveal the threat of this growing activity and present working solutions.

Despite the sophisticated design and complex manufacturing of most IT products, counterfeiting is a pervasive problem. As many as one in 10 IT products sold may actually be counterfeit, according to interviews conducted with electronics industry executives. AGMA and KPMG estimate that about $100 billion of global IT industry revenue is lost to counterfeiters annually. In addition, estimates by the International chamber of commerce suggest that counterfeit goods accounted for six percent of world trade in 2003, valued at $456 billion. By reducing revenue and harming brand equity, counterfeiting IT and electronics products are eroding the integrity of the “supply and demand” business model.

No anticounterfeiting effort is entirely foolproof, but the better ones can make a significant difference. AGMA urges technology companies to educate themselves about the dangers and warning signs of counterfeiting. The AGMA-KPMG whitepaper provides a useful tool for companies who are starting to initiate education and training programs that can help mitigate the threat of counterfeiting. A copy of this whitepaper can be obtained at www.agmaglobal.org.

Main category: 
Old Categories: