Police trialing biometric authentication
West Midlands Police is to trial an identity authentication system that will allow both physical and digital access to police systems, with the projected replacement of warrant cards with chip-and-pin smart-cards.
Police officers and civilian staff will be granted access to buildings and computer systems using a single sign-on card. An initial pilot scheme will start at the end of September and run for three months.
“It’s all about restricting access to a door or an application in an efficient way,” said Fred Tracey, user support manager for West Midlands Police.
The technology behind the scheme is being provided by two companies. Access management company Imprivata won the tender to provide the data-management hardware and software, while Enline will provide the physical access systems.
Access data will be managed through a box that co-ordinates the police databases and Web services, and contains the data-management operating system.
“It allows the administration of Web-based information through a GUI,” said Geoff Hogan, business development manager for Imprivata. “Information is encrypted on the databases and over the [police intranet].”
The West Midlands Police network is connected to the Internet through a hosted site with five firewalls, according to Tracey. Fingerprint biometrics on keyboards and a biometric fingerprint reader on the West Midlands Police computer room will be implemented.
Once a person is registered as being in the building, anyone attempting to use their identity to access information from a different location can be restricted.
Read more at ZDNet.