Frost & Sullivan Acknowledges the Security and Price Advantages of Breakthrough Fujitsu PalmSecure(TM) Biometric Technology

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the biometrics healthcare identity management market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Fujitsu Frontech North America, Inc. with the 2010 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation for the Fujitsu PalmSecure™ palm vein authentication solution. The Fujitsu PalmSecure technology is the first vascular authentication solution certified by the Common Criteria committee under the International Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation Assurance Level 2. During the course of research on various parts of the human anatomy for error-free biometric identification and verification, the palm's vein pattern was determined to be unique while also being the most complex part of the entire anatomy.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

Palm vein technology extracts vein characteristics in the form of a high-definition image using a high-tech sensor, which captures deoxygenated hemoglobin running through the subject's veins. This technology is unique in that blood needs to be flowing through the veins in order to authenticate or verify the subject's identity.

"The sensor emits near infrared rays, which are absorbed by the deoxygenated hemoglobin and an image is then generated, based on the reflection from the palm," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Santosh Antony. "The captured image is then transformed into a biometric template, which is a numerical algorithm based on biometric data availed from the image and this template is later used to match a user's scan for authentication."

The biometrics market is largely price-driven, with most end users preferring low-cost alternatives to multiple-security layers, even though they are susceptible to circumvention and spoofing. Biometric companies can remedy this situation by innovating to bridge the gap between price and security.

The PalmSecure technology can be easily integrated into products for both physical and logical access control systems, and it is also integrated into time and attendance systems. The technology is expected to be successful in this application, as it is unaffected by normal amounts of dirt and grime on the palm, which usually increases the error rates for regular fingerprint scanners.

"For the first time, the unavoidable trade-off between price and security seems surmountable," says Vic Herring, VP of sales and marketing, Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. "The new palm vein biometric products are more durable, relatively less bulky, and more secure than the traditional biometric technologies. The Fujitsu PalmSecure technology also generates low false accept rates (FAR) and false reject rates (FRR) that are comparable with iris scanners, at a price point that is similar to existing fingerprint scanners."

Fingerprint solutions have high FAR and FRR of 2 percent and 3 percent respectively, while iris-scan technology is much more reliable with an FAR in the range of 0.0001-0.94 percent and FRR of 0.99-0.2 percent. However, the latter technology is expensive and hence, only used in niche applications.

"The PalmSecure technology, on the other hand, has an FAR of 0.00008 percent and an FRR of 0.01 percent," said Santosh. "When such high levels of accuracy are combined with extremely competitive pricing, a migration from less expensive and low-quality products to relatively more expensive but sophisticated products can be expected."

The Fujitsu palm vein technology enhances customer value at three levels. The first is an increase in security. The Fujitsu PalmSecure technology has an FAR of below 0.00008%, several notches higher than existing solutions available in the market.

The second is the cost-benefit ratio. The average-selling price of the standard PalmSecure technology is between $300 and $350. While this is slightly higher than the average cost of fingerprint biometric technology solutions, customers are willing to pay the additional premium to receive the wide array of benefits associated with palm vein biometrics. Fujitsu recently released a scaled-down version of this technology – Fujitsu PalmSecure LT for SSO, which will retain most of the benefits of the premium product and yet be priced below $200.

The third customer value addition is that palm vein technology takes into consideration certain issues that make some customers think twice before using biometrics.

"For example, scanners are used by a number of people and thus, many end users are not comfortable touching a scanner," said Santosh. "However, since palm vein technology does not require the user to touch the device, (the palm can be suspended above the scanner for a few seconds to capture the image) users will be more likely to adopt this technology."

Furthermore, the technology continues to evolve and the time required for authentication is being reduced with each version.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has carried out new research, which has resulted in innovations that have or are expected to bring significant contributions to the industry in terms of adoption, change, and competitive posture. This award recognizes the quality and depth of a company's research and development program as well as the vision and risk-taking that has enabled it to undertake such an endeavor.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Fujitsu Frontech North America, Inc.

Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. offers a wide variety of products including retail point of sales terminals, self checkout systems, kiosks, digital media solutions, palm vein biometric authentication technology, Ethernet switches, RFID tags and bill dispensers - with sales, service and engineering support throughout the United States. Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. is headquartered with operations and product development at 25902 Towne Centre Drive, Foothill Ranch, CA. 92610. For more information about Fujitsu products and services, please call +1-949-855-5500 or visit www.fujitsufrontechna.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.awards.frost.com.

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan