Technology for Tamper-Resistant ID Cards

ByABC News
October 4, 2001, 12:41 PM

Oct. 5 -- Some of the hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks had forged driver's licenses and other fake ID cards. Now, say some experts, it's time to give paper-based card systems a technological boost.

Fake identification can effectively allow someone to establish an identity, obtain banking and other privileges, rent vehicles, and even to obtain other pieces of ID that will allow them past security checkpoints.

But thwarting bogus IDs isn't easy for many reasons.

First, is the ever increasing power and easy-availability of computers and the Internet. The capabilities of color printers, scanners, and digital cameras have made it easier to produce official-looking documents. And getting blank copies of some forms of ID, such as state driver's licenses, is as easy as visiting one of many illicit Web sites.

To make IDs more difficult for "casual counterfeiters" a young person, say, who wants to scam the weekend bartender for a drink, for example government agencies have tried adding advanced security features. Some state driver's licenses now add watermarks hidden images that are viewable only by viewing the card at a certain angle.

But such schemes point to another difficulty: the human inspector. Since there are a variety of ID forms each with its own unique set of security features a person checking an ID would need to be well-versed in exactly what to look for.

Many ID and security companies believe that the best way to check the tide of counterfeit IDs requires systems that use a combination of old and new approaches.

Rather than rely on just a visually recognizable identification clues a photo embossed on a card with official looking seals more secure ID setups would use encrypted data that can be read only by special equipment. That way, while forgers may be able to copy an ID card's appearance, it would be much harder to actually copy how it would work in an ID verification system.

Using Encoding Technology