Article from The Greentree Gazette Fighting Fraud in the Registrar’s Office Executive Briefing June 2006 “I’ve seen my share of forged transcripts and degrees,” admits David Mosely Booze, Assistant Dean and Registrar at Savannah State University. “With the advent of high-tech computing, it’s become easier for people to produce forgeries.” One preventive measure against document fraud is paper with built-in security features. “Transcript fraud runs rampant and it’s gotten a lot worse,” says Joyce Leiner, Director of Operations for International Security Products (ISP), a manufacturer of specialty papers and a Savannah State University supplier. “Students may try to change a grade, for example. Security features can show the form has been tampered with. Other security features will show a document has been scanned or copied and is not an original,” Leiner adds. Transcript paper can protect against chemical alternation. It can include a fingerprint seal to verify authenticity. Personalized holograms and other security features deter duplication, forgery, counterfeiting and washing. Visible and invisible security features can be layered. “It’s a highly competitive world out there. People who didn’t go to school or finish school need credentials to say they did. We have to make doubly certain that those who haven’t earned the credentials don’t take advantage of us,” says Booze. ISP’s products are the creation of inventor George Phillips. The company serves 250 universities and has been in the transcript market for ten years.
Document Security
Experts estimate the worst counterfeiting in US history was accomplished between the years 1836 and 1866. It was during what was referred to as the “Free Banking Era.” US currency was printed without standards or uniformity in papers, sizes, designs or colors. This lack of uniformity created an environment where currency fraud was estimated to be a whopping 35% to 40%. Had you lived during this time, you would have had a hodgepodge of money printed by any number of entities or state-run banks, which all were different in appearance and value. A dollar issued by the city of Atlanta looked different and wasn’t necessarily the same value as a dollar printed in New York! What can we learn from this, and how does it apply to the protection of sensitive information on our documents? Simply, first line inspection for authenticity by a casual observer, without knowledge of the variables of authenticity, is improbable, if not impossible. And, security technologies do not fail, but instead, the inspection analysis fails. Generally speaking, we try to invent effective security features which are extremely difficult to replicate, can be recognized by a casual observer, are user-friendly and verify authenticity or identify falseness. First-line inspection requires security features to be unambiguous, self-explanatory, easily communicated, memorized and recognized. Today, combating document fraud and especially protecting printed content is a multidisciplinary and international concern. The constant improvement of modern scanners with digital means of signal processing and color copiers has made it economically feasible to reproduce almost perfect-looking reproductions of currency and fraudulent travel documents. This same technology is now used every day to easily copy printed information for nefarious reasons. Prior to 1970, document security features were almost non-existent; consisting mainly of intaglio printing, paper watermarks and foil applications. With the evolution of the computer and copy machines in the ‘60s and ‘70s, came the need to protect documents from being photocopied. In 1979, the first “copy-evident” printing technology was invented which alerted a casual observer that a copy was made of an original. Copy Evident
Security Technologies In accordance with these techniques, a hidden warning message, such as “VOID” or “COPY,” is printed in a screen dot value within a halftone background on a substrate. The line screen dot value of the hidden warning message is selected; such that the elements of the hidden warning message are reproduced when photocopied. The line screen dot value of the background, however, is selected, such that the elements of the background are much smaller and would not easily reproduce when photocopied. As a result, and in theory, the hidden warning message will appear on duplicates of the original document made by photocopying. Another “copy-evident” printing technique was developed in the 1980s and is referred to as screen angle modulation (SAM). With this technique, screen dots are replaced by minimal lines, which are printed in an orientation pattern to misregister with the scanning frequency protocol and produce a moire’ pattern, which creates the hidden warning message on a copy. Increasing the disparity between the hidden warning message and background elements by overprinting a camouflaging thermochromic ink pattern has greatly improved its anti-copy capability. This technique is patented and trademarked ThermoSafe. While the above techniques have provided some degree of copy-evident protection of original documents with respect to most copiers, in recent years, digital scanners and color copiers continue to improve both their resolutions and digital filtering capabilities substantially. These new color copiers and scanners can reproduce at a very high resolution of 600 by 1200 or higher and have made the above techniques less effective in protecting original documents. By manipulating the control and filtering settings on these devices, copies can be made of original documents in which the hidden warning message does not readily appear on reproductions. To help overcome these problems, in 2001, a new copy-evident technology, trademarked NaNOcopy, was introduced which improves on the limitations of the previous technologies. NaNOcopy utilizes micro-size nano structures to form the copy-evident warning message, which will appear on a copy of the document. Micro Nano-structures form the foreground of the latent warning message; and another pattern, e.g., a conventional halftone or screened dot pattern, forms the background around the nano pattern latent warning message. The nano-pattern and the other pattern are configured, such that the foreground and background exhibit similar visual densities on an original of the document and exhibit substantially different visual densities on the copied document. This is accomplished by forming nano-structures with a plurality of adjacent elements that are configured to create digital frequency disturbances and trap printing matter such as ink or toner when electronically copied, thereby darkening the nano-pattern warning message on the copied document. Creating digital copying frequency disturbances and trapping of the printing matter is facilitated by the structure design, modulation and miniature size of the adjacent elements, which are preferably less than one point print size. The modulation and plurality of adjacent elements that make up the nano-pattern can be combined into a series of nano-structures or shapes, e.g., stars, PolyGrams, circles, ovals, crosses, Xs or alpha-numerical characters to produce the desired darkening effect. Using nano alpha-numerical characters also provides the security printer the ability to formulate intricate secret algorithms and/or encryptions to add traceable value and further enhance the document’s security. This ability to use nano-structures adds powerful, second-line verification potential. Check 21 Image Survivable Security Check 21 creates a tremendous problem of securing not only the original, but also the digital content and the substitute or Image Replacement Document (IRD). Most security technologies currently utilized will not survive the Check-To-Image conversion. Utilizing image-based technologies such as barcoding, database verification, digital watermarking and nano-character image transformation for human and/or machine verification will be the new breed of security for the 21st century. George K. Phillips is the CEO of International Security Products (ISP). Contact George at georgep@isp-vft.com or visit International Security Products.
11:22:01(CST) New Security Technology Verifies Digital Image of Paper Checks PASO ROBLES, Calif., December 8, 2004--International Security Products has introduced a new image-survivable security technology that makes it possible to verify the authenticity of printed checks after they have been scanned and digitized by a bank or other financial institution. This new technology is called ImageSECURE and involves the printing of microstructures at one level. Then, through a patent-pending technology, it embeds a secondary verifier into the background of the initial microstructures, all of which are printed behind the common areas of interest<payee amount and signature fields. The ImageSECURE area has six security layers and is virtually impossible to replicate digitally without detection. This digital alphanumeric verifier can be an almost limitless range of custom patterns which, when scanned and compressed into a low-resolution bitmap image, form pixel-latent verification identifiers. These embedded or hidden images survive the scanning and compression process to become part of the digital check. The images can be verified visually or by machine with the development of appropriate software. "The image-survivable security technology of ImageSECURE
allows an inspector to determine whether a low-resolution bitmap
was created by the original document or a counterfeit, long
after the original has been destroyed," George Phillips,
chief executive officer, said. "It works in concert with
our other security measures to enable a bank to identify a
counterfeit check at any point in the process cycle. From the
point of presentment all the way down to the digital copy,
this security technology can dramatically reduce a bank¹s,
and/or corporate customer¹s, liability against fraudulent
checks."
ImageSECURE is available through ProDocumentSolutions, which deploys the technology on checks printed with DocuCheck Watermark® security papers from Appleton. ProDocumentSolutions is a sister company of International Security Products and offers a wide range of patented technologies that provide both covert and overt protection for product fraud or diversion protection. In addition, ProDocumentSolutions is a certified security printer, with the certification being awarded by the North American Security Products Organization, of which it is a member. ImageSECURE technology enables confirmation of both digital and mechanical alterations. The confirmation hinges on the distinctive variations, formations, clusters or absence of pixels in the embedded verifier image. "These latent, embedded images act as a distinct fingerprint of the digital document," Phillips explained. "It will show with reasonable certainty whether or not the digital check is a scan from a real or counterfeit check. And this technology is engineered to provide identification even at the low-resolution scanning level banks will use to keep file storage as small as possible." ImageSECURE™ technology exceeds all requirements for the new federal law "Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act," or
Check 21 for short. Check 21 went into effect Oct. 28, 2004.
International Security Products launched ImageSECURE™ in
October at the Xplor 2004 show in Dallas, Texas.
About International Security Products
About Appleton ImageSECURE
is a new image-survivable security technology from International
Security Products
that verifies the digital
image of paper checks and provides full compliance with "Check
21" requirements. The new technology embeds a visual verifier
that is printed in the background behind the common areas of
interest on a check. These hidden images are virtually impossible
to replicate digitally without detection. As shown in the bottom
portion of the photo, the verifier survives the low-resolution
scanning and compression process approved under "Check
21" guidelines. The bitmapped image that remains verifies
that the scanned image was made from an authentic check.
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