Fx3000 - Fingerprint scanner Match on Board |
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Fx3000 is a new smart scanner capable of processing and recognizing fingerprints on board (Match-on-Board). The PC connected to the scanner is not involved in processing the biometric data: images and templates of the users are not transferred to the PC, thus increasing security and privacy. Fx3000 can store internally, in a safe area, templates, files and passwords and is able to perform cryptographic operations. Fx3000 is the ideal solution for digital signature (biometrically enabled) applications: the PC sends to the scanner the document to sign, specifying which certificate is to use; access to the private signature key is granted once the user has been authenticated by his/her fingerprint. Fx3000 is the ideal solution also for Single Sign-On (or “passwords bank”) applications, as it can store internally, in the safe area, the passwords that have to be provided to third party applications once the user has been biometrically authenticated.
Brochure (PDF format). Large sensing area (17.8 x 25 mm2) and high resolution (569 dpi)
These features have to be carefully considered when
evaluating the quality of a fingerprint scanner. In fact, a large sensing
area improves recognition performance since a larger number of minutiae
can be detected (see minutiae)
and the overlapping area of two fingerprint images, taken in different
moments, is significantly maximized. This increases the overall accuracy
(smaller FAR) and, above all, greatly reduces the false rejections (FRR)
caused by incorrect finger placements. Furthermore, the higher is the
resolution, the more details can be located in the fingerprint
pattern.
The picture shows, at the same scale,
three images from the same finger: one captured by Fx3000 (on the left:
560x400 pixel, 569 dpi), one by Fx2000 (in the
middle: 560x296 pixel, 569 dpi) and one by a
typical solid-state capacitive scanner (on the right: 96x96 pixel, 250 dpi).
Please, refer to "A technical evaluation of fingerprint scanners"for more technical details on this topic.
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Match On Board
Most of the match-on-board and match-on-card solutions available on the market are characterized by a low computational power that determines a loss of accuracy (more false rejections and false acceptances) with respect to the systems that match fingerprint images on a PC. On the contrary, Fx3000 is equipped with a powerful microprocessor (RISC 32-bit, 200 MHz, core ARM9) and with 32 MB of RAM; this allows accurate on-board fingerprint matching to be performed in less than 1 second.
Storage
Fx3000 is equipped with 8MB of flash memory, where it is possible to store numerical data (called templates) extracted from the users’ fingerprints. It is also possible to save digital certificates (x509), passwords (Single Sign-On) and other user’s files. By exploiting all the available room it is possible to store on board up to 1500 templates.
Encryption and Digital Signature
Fx3000 has several cryptographic capabilities. The communications between the scanner and the PC are encrypted (128 bit), by using a SSL-like protocol which negotiates session keys. The scanner can internally generate pairs of asymmetric keys (RSA) and export (in x509 format) the related certificate. Fx3000 can digitally sign (RSA) a document by using a private key (stored internally or on a smart card) once the key owner has been biometrically authenticated.
Security and Privacy
Fx3000 performs on board those biometric or cryptographic operations that, if performed on PC could be feasible of attacks or interceptions. This boosts safety and privacy, as the biometric data never leaves the scanner (unless explicitly required by the user)
Integration and Development (SDK)
Fx3000 can be integrated in third party applications in two different ways:
- FX3 SDK: is
fully compliant with both Fx2000 and Fx3000. In case of Fx2000, the
scanner can only acquire fingerprint images and FX3 SDK has to perform
the fingerprint recognition on the PC. With Fx3000, the developer can
either match fingerprint images on a PC (by using Fx3000 in Fx2000
compliant way) or exploit the new match on board capabilities of Fx3000.
- Password Bank SDK: Password Bank is a Biometric Single Sign-On solution that fully exploits the Fx3000 features (storage, match on board and cryptography). Password Bank provides a safe way for storing pairs of usernames and passwords inside the Fx3000 scanner or inside a smart card. This SDK enables the integration of the Password Bank functionalities in third party applications.
- PKCS#11 SDK: implements the PKCS#11 interface, thus making Fx3000 a “standard” encryption token. Existing applications, where smart cards are used for digital signature, can now benefit of the advantages offered by biometric authentication, without any substantial modification to the existing software. In fact, the PC is not involved in any of the biometric tasks and it simply manages Fx3000 as a PKCS#11 compliant Smart Card.
Smart Card
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The Fx3000 scanner is available also as
SC version (with an integrated Smart Card
reader). The reader is detected by the Operating System as a
standard PC/SC device and can be used by every application (third
party also) to read/write most of the existing Smart Cards and
Memory Cards. Fx3000 SC is a very cost-effective solution for
applications requiring to store biometric templates on Smart Cards
released to the users (max. privacy), and in secure applications of
Digital
Signature. |
TWAIN Driver
Fx3000 driver also provides a TWAIN interface that enables the acquisition of fingerprint images through any software that supports this standard interface. Once installed, Fx3000 can be selected as a TWAIN image source from any application that supports the TWAIN interface.