Defeating the Counterfeiters (based on a paper presented at the CardTech, SecurTech Conference in Orlando)

Government offices, companies, shop, schools, clubs, Airports and utilities are just some of the organisations who now rely on a simple portrait ID card as there primary means of access control, and these make up some 95 % of the ID market.

Time Bomb

Despite the plethora of printers on the market, the security which these systems provide, is, in most cases easily compromised. With two to three million cards being produced by dye-sublimation each month, the result is a security time bomb waiting to explode.

Using expensive graphic design software such as CorelDraw or Photoshop, together with a PC and a scanner it is a very simple matter to scan in a genuine card, substitute a new portrait, and output a very convincing counterfeit using a low cost dye-sub printer.

Biometrics

Of course, enhanced security can be achieved by using techniques such as biometrics or a separate "holographic" overlay film but these methods are too costly for most portrait ID card users and in the case of biometrics, also require a special read terminal of some kind.

To protect the bulk of dye-sub ID cards produced each month, a security system is required which will completely eliminate casual counterfeiting, yet keep costs and the complexities of operation to an absolute minimum.

Low Costs

Now such a system has been produced using the Magicard Dye-sub printer and the use of unique Secure Key technology; a very low cost anti-counterfeiting system for portrait ID cards, which is the subject of international patent applications.

Printer models currently offering the Ultra Security Key feature include the Magicard Turbo, Magicard 300 Plus, Magicard Sprinter and the Magicard Sprinter / Flip.

Printer Models currently offering the HoloKote Key include the Magicard Rio (2e) and the Magicard Tango / Flip (2e) series.

These systems combine a daylight visible mark with a secure electronic key to control its application. The security mark is incorporated into the acrylic polymer overcoat used to protect the dye-sub colour image from abrasions and UV light and which is layed down during the normal card printing process. The composition of the polymer is modified to produce a transparent, daylight visible, 'frosted' image on the face of the card.

Long Life

Tests have shown that the protection provided by the overcoat is not compromised by this process and that the resulting cards have at least as long a life as cards produced without the feature. Also, because the composition of the overcoat is modified throughout its full thickness, the security mark will last as long as the card image itself.

Design and set up costs are low compared with homographic overlay material as the effect is achieved using standard Magicard film and the process does not require an expensive overlaminate film.

Electronic Key

The application of the security mark onto the card is controlled by storing the security encrypted electronic key. The mark will only be incorporated if the key is attached to the printer. To ensure that the security key cannot be read or reprogrammed by counterfeiters, an encryption system is used to ensure that the keys can only be read or modified by the manufacturer.

Inside the electronic key there is a serial communication controller, a microprocessor based encryption engine and 4K bytes of non-volatile memory which is used to store the security image.

Secret

For obvious reasons, the exact function of the encryption process is kept secret, but it is based on the encryption techniques used for military and intelligence data, which utilise the special mathematical characteristics of the Fibonacci Series

This system offers a simple and affordable means to defeat card forgery.