DIGIMARC® IDMARC™ EMBEDDER TOOLKIT: CLOSING A CRUCIAL GAP IN IDENTITY DOCUMENT SECURITY
by Nigel Ward

Identity theft and fraud are not just the crime wave of the future anymore. They’re serious issues that are causing security risks and global financial loss today. Global identity fraud costs businesses and consumers an estimated 25 billion Euros annually*. Over the last five years, stolen identities and related crimes contributed to $5 billion in financial losses to consumers and $47.6 billion in losses to businesses and financial institutions in the U.S. alone. And with 10 million falsified identification documents being confiscated each year in the U.S., it’s clear that the digital counterfeiting of documents using low-cost, easy-to-use tools is a growing issue as well.**

IDMarc: Positive ID authentication for the 21st century
IDMarc closes a crucial gap in the fight against identity crimes by giving systems integrators and document issuers the software and tools to add a covert, machine-readable, interlocking digital security layer to identify documents.

This interlocking digital layer of security can be added to identity documents, regardless of design or jurisdiction, through the Digimarc IDMarc Embedder.

Packaged as an easy-to-integrate software development kit, the IDMarc Embedder Toolkit gives systems integrators and issuers of identity documents a powerful new tool in the fight against document counterfeiting and forgery.

How does it work?
The IDMarc Embedder applies a security-class digital watermark to selected digital images, which will be printed on an identity document, at the time of personalization. This turns previously passive elements of the document into machine-readable, interlocking digital security elements.
And, as a covert security layer, IDMarc supports many document designs, making it an ideal solution for intra or cross-jurisdictional ID authentication. The IDMarc Embedder easily integrates into the document issuance workflows of both central-issue and over-the-counter document issuance systems. Using robust hardware, network, and software security schemes, the IDMarc Embedder ensures overall issuance system security policies.

Documents secured with IDMarc can be positively authenticated by authorized inspection personnel equipped with IDMarc Inspector software. Certified systems integrators will also receive the IDMarc Inspector Platform to develop inspection applications for quality assurance purposes or to develop issuerspecific applications to meet the unique needs of their customers.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF THE IDMARC SECURITY LAYER

Covert 

  • Counterfeiter does not know the presence of IDMarc and the interlocking strategy used when attacking ID documents
  • Supports many document designs
  • Makes an ideal intra- and cross-jurisdictional authentication security layer

Machine Readable

  • Only authorized individuals equipped with the proper software and security rights can detect and authenticate IDMarc features
  • Makes positive ID authentication simple and reliable while remaining independent of ID design
  • Machine-mediated authentication reduces reliance on human training on all ID designs

Secure 

  • Strengthens document security by adding an interlocking layer of security that interrelates multiple elements of a document to detect tampering
  • Built on a secure digital watermarking protocol that includes the use of spread-spectrum techniques, error correction codes, and keys, creating a strong barrier to counterfeiting

Low Cost 

  • No new materials, inks, or dedicated space on the document are required

Personalized

  • Carries document-specific data enabling positive authentication of the ID without capturing or storing personal data to ensure ID holder privacy

Persistent 

  • Survives short, medium and long-term document life requirements, making it a versatile feature for a wide range of identity documents
  • Survives digital-to-print and print-to-digital conversion, giving the document a lasting covert identity
  • Provides an invaluable aid in forensic analysis and investigation based on the persistent nature of the feature

Compatible 

  • Supports a variety of printing technologies including dye-sub, toner, inkjet, and laser engraving
  • Supports a variety of print substrates, including PVC, Teslin, Polycarbonate, and paper
  • Integrates into multiple existing and/or new design elements for layered security

Extensible

  • Through a self-versioning scheme, ensures that future advances in the IDMarc security feature will be backward-compatible with existing documents


Digimarc IDMarc is a covert, machine-readable, interlocking digital security layer.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF THE IDMARC EMBEDDER

Ease of Implementation

  • Integrates seamlessly into the document issuance workflow through a simple high level API
  • Offers cross-jurisdictional and private IDMarc payload encoding interfaces to minimize workflow integration time and costs

High Performance Embedding

  • With an average IDMarc embedding time of only 228 milliseconds per card image* the software effectively supports the performance needs of both central and over-the-counter document issuance systems

Multi-IDMarc Feature Embedding
IDMarc features are embedded using cross-jurisdictional and private keys, which provide system integrators lower costs of maintenance and support by deploying a common workflow to:

  • Implement multiple cross-jurisdictional IDMarc documents
  • Implement multiple private IDMarc documents
  • Implement both cross-jurisdictional and private IDMarc features on same document

Comprehensive Security Model
Embedder architecture supports robust hardware, network, and software-based security
technologies to:

  • Ensure software shrouding against unauthorized copying and reverse engineering;
  • Provide flexible and secure IDMarc “key” protection against unauthorized usage;
  • Provide appropriate security for both central-issue and over-the-counter issuance environments.

Dynamic Range Adjustment (DRA)
Improves the visual quality of printed images given the variation in the dynamic range of colors supported across printer manufacturers and models while improving the durability of the IDMarc feature

Extensibility
 Document issuers can take advantage of future advances in the IDMarc security and payload expansion while ensuring backward compatibility with existing documents

IDMarc Embedder system requirements

  • Microsoft® Windows 2000 or XP
  • Can be added to card images or art with a minimum size of 26mm x 32mm
  • Operates on 24-bit RGB, 24-bit BGR, or 8-bit grayscale raster images at 300 o-r 600 DPI
  • Requires USB port for a security device, or a TCP/IP connection to a supplied network security provider (secure server running Windows 2000 or XP)

Ships with:

  • IDMarc Embedder SDK interface files and runtime modules
  • Sample embedding application source code for Microsoft® Visual C++.
  • Digimarc Image Acquisition API System documentation

Secure your identity documents with the Digimarc IDMarc Embedder
To learn how the Digimarc IDMarc Embedder Toolkit can help your organization, call our sales group at to schedule an on-site presentation.

* Pira International
** U.S. Federal Trade Commision, Identity Theft Survey Report, Sept 2003, 7.