Korea Herald

SecuIT introduces smart card reader with fingerprint authentication system

March 2, 2002
By Lee Jae-hee

With the spread of electronic commerce, remote access and the Intranet, the need for information security has increased, spurring the development of biometrics products in the computer-network security market.

Security Information Technology Co. (SecuIT, www.secuit.com) is one of the 50-plus companies that specialize in biometrics solutions or products in Korea. Established in August 2000, the company has developed two products based on its own fingerprint recognition algorithm: SecuDoor and SecuCard.

SecuDoor, released in January, is a multi-modal biometrics system, combining fingerprint with facial recognition, that is used for access control and security. The face recognition algorithm of Visionics of the United States was applied to the fingerprint recognition system developed by SecuIT for a mutual complement, thereby improving the accuracy of identification.

"With the expanding e-commerce market, authenticating whether the person who is carrying out the transaction is really who he says he is, is important to prevent fraud," said Lee Joo-hyung, president of SecuIT, in an interview with The Korea Herald.

SecuCard, to be introduced to the market in April, is a smart card reader embedded with a fingerprint recognition system. A smart card contains a chip so that various types of personal information can be stored on the card - it can be used as a credit card, driver's license or health insurance card.

Lee said the demand for fingerprint smart card readers will grow eventually, as the use of smart cards becomes more pervasive in Korea. For one, credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard have announced that they will switch current credit cards to smart cards by 2004. In addition, the Korean government plans to replace 900,000 existing employee cards of public servants to smart cards by 2005.

As part of a state-run project, SecuIT will work on inserting fingerprints on smart cards of 800 employees at the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and 800 staff at the Ministry of Information and Communication this year.

"Fingerprint smart card readers allow only the authorized personnel to log on and off computers and access information on the network or server, providing information security," the president said.

The company is recognized as one of the leaders in fingerprint authentication solution providers in Korea, having successfully installed the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) at the Korea National Police Agency (KNPA) last year. The system is the largest fingerprint authentication database in the world, managing about 30 million fingerprints.

The automated fingerprint identification system, with which a fingerprint is detected from a large database for personal identification, is used by investigation agencies.

Lee, 47, was engaged in the development of fingerprint recognition solution long before establishing SecuIT.

While working for the Korea Information System from 1983-2000, he participated in the government-led electronic identification card project. The project, however, was aborted since there was opposition from civic groups, saying smart cards are an invasion of privacy, as the government would have access to all the personal information on the card, including credit card information. Low technology and high budgetary spending were other reasons the project didn't bear fruit in 1996. (Instead, ID cards were changed to plastic ones.)

He also wrote a thesis on fingerprint authentication systems in 1994 for his master's degree while studying computer science at Kyungpook University.

"The fingerprint is a reliable alternative to the many security tools since each person's fingerprint is unique," Lee said.

The Korean market for biometrics systems is quite small, as companies only began full-scale release of products in 1998. It wasn't until 2000 that businesses began to utilize the technology.

But there is bigger demand in foreign markets such as the United States (known for good biometrics technology), Europe (leader in making smart cards), Asia and the Middle East.

For example, Malaysia is in the process of replacing existing ID cards with smart cards, while Thailand recently passed a bill to introduce electronic residential cards.

Middle Eastern countries are also interested in importing Korean biometrics technology due to price competitiveness and reliable technology that is not far behind that of advanced companies, Lee said.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks also played a role in advancing the use of biometrics technology due to heightened security consciousness, he added.

According to the International Biometric Group, the biometrics market reached $524 million in 2001 and is expected to grow to $1.905 billion by 2005.

Setting this year as the year of market expansion, when the company actually begins reaping profits, SecuIT is targeting 9.5 billion won in sales, 3 billion won from exports and 6.5 billion won from domestic sales by actively participating in government-initiated projects. Last year, the company posted 1 billion won in sales.