Safe fingerprint

The card, which is about the size of a standard credit card, is embedded with a processor battery, sensor and display that work together to generate disposable pin-codes for every use. The first person who uses the card "owns" it: using built-in algorithms that combine traditional mathematical functions with bit manipulation, the card generates a brand-new pin code every time the card is swiped. An added feature of the card is its built-in "swipe sensor," which eliminates any fingerprints the cardholder might leave, which could be lifted by would-be identity thieves. Even if a card is stolen, it is completely useless to anyone but the original cardholder.

"The Quard card is the most secure safe-card on the market today, because the authentication is on the card itself," explains Quard co-founder Leif Serup. "Normally a pin-code log-in is based externally, on a server or laptop. Quard's technology means you don't have to worry about the security of your fingerprint because the card literally cannot be hacked."

Like many Øresund Region success stories, Quard is the brainchild of professionals from different high-tech fields coming together to launch a product cooperatively. Leif Serup is an engineer by trade, while co-founder Uffe Clemmensen is a corporate consultant and Søren Hald Jensen comes from the banking and financial services sector. After financing the prototype for the original card independently, the three men debuted the Quard Card at the 2004 Nordic Biometric Conference in Copenhagen earlier this spring, where it was the sleeper sensation of the event.

Quick ferry check-in

"Nobody had ever seen a card like this before," Serup recalled "It's exciting, because biometrics will certainly change lives in the future, in a number of areas. Our card is mostly geared toward medium-sized companies that want to authenticate 1000 to 2000 users within 2-3 years. Internet banks have expressed an interest, which is a new experience for us - and someone even asked about Quard digital signature technology, or even disposable pin-codes for email," said Serup.

Biometric companies have scrambled in recent years to develop 100 percent reliable methods of authenticating people's identities - but Quard has taken the process a step further, by guaranteeing not only fail-safe identity authentication, but total anonymity for the cardholder. Drug company focus groups may use this kind of technology to record patient information on markets that prohibit the storing of sensitive information like names.

Danish-Swedish ferry line, Bornholmstraffiken, recently introduced biometrics information for quick ID'ing passengers at check-in. And according to Serup, the next big market for hack-proof biometrics may be Japan, where people are turning to the wonders of hands-free biometric systems to prevent the spread of the common cold.

This article was originally published by Øresund IT Magasine (nr. 5 - 2004). You can download the magazine in PDF format on Publications.

*Rebecca Engmann is an American journalist living in Copenhagen.