Managing biometrics

Signaling the ongoing need for technologies to authenticate identities, AC Technology has unveiled a new software system for managing biometric devices.

Company officials chose the Spy Museum in downtown Washington, D.C., as the setting for their announcement.

Called Biobex, the system is in use in pilot programs in some defense agencies and projects in non-defense agencies are slated to begin soon, said AC Technology President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Sands.

Biobex can work with most biometric devices, he said, allowing users to create any combination of technologies -- such as facial recognition, iris scans or fingerprints -- that users choose. Company officials recommend a facial recognition system from Cybula, fingerprint scanners from CrossMatch and Sun's Secure Network Access Platform as an optimum solution, he added.

Michael Yura, senior vice president of the non-profit National Biometric Security Project, said technologies such as Biobex are only a piece of the puzzle.

"People think that [biometrics] are a quick fix," he said. "It doesn't solve the problem. It's an enabling technology that needs to fit into a strategy."