Signature Verification Tech

Signature verification Survey:

Signature Verification Technologies The future for dynamic signature verification systems seems inextricably linked to the future of digital signatures, e-commerce, workflow management and non-repudiation of documents. Over the past year, the lines between document management and e-commerce markets have been blurring as document management has moved on-line. by Emma Newham

A flurry of announcements have emanated from the dynamic signature verification (dsv) market over the last year as the technology continues its spread across the world and across numerous platforms. Many of these announcements are a result of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) hurrying to embed the technology into an increasing number of software packages, such as Adobe Acrobat. This market growth is graphically illustrated by one of the industry’s leading players, PenOp. According to company spokesman Arthur Llewellyn, approximately 9.7 million PenOp signatures were applied to electronic forms in 1998, yet in 1999 this figure rocketed to an estimated 40 million. The potential market for dsv systems is easy to see. Suppliers told Btt that around 15% of a US company’s revenue is used up by document processing and that 60% of documents are signature dependent. The cost of dsv to speed up and secure these processes is just a drop in the ocean compared to such figures - with a typical digitiser tablet now costing well below US$100.

Software solutions There are numerous examples of dsv technology being embedded into software packages. For example, PenOp’s German OEM worked with Easy Software to include signature verification in its latest version of Easy DMS, a document management system. This enables users to sign Easy DMS Folders electronically. PenOp also formed an OEM agreement with JefForm to develop a signature system for the supplier’s Pocket Form software designed for use with the Windows CE platform. Another adopter of PenOp technology was ELF Solutions. It integrated the signature system

with its I-32 product suite. This enables ELF documents that are already embedded within major banking, insurance and healthcare software applications worldwide to be signed with legally effective electronic signatures. According to Jeremy Newman, founder of PenOp: “Forms play an indispensable part in the way business is conducted. Key industries such as banking, finance, insurance and international trade rely on forms to process loans, complete statutory returns or export goods. ELF’s dynamic automated electronic forms combined with PenOp electronic signatures provide a secure electronic environment in which businesses can operate internally and across the internet.” Demonstrating the global reach of the technology, PenOp also saw growth in Asia Pacific through its distributor E-Com Asia Pacific. One of the largest insurance companies in Singapore, Prudential Singapore, has issued PenOp’s signature software to 3000 of its life assurance agents. The PruPower program allows agents to transact business in the field using laptop computers configured with PenOp’s signature capture software. It also enables the signing of legally binding quotations and proposal forms and allows agents to verify and sign sensitive emails.

Acrobatics A feature of the Prudential installation is that the PruPower documents are created and managed in Lotus Notes and presented on-screen for signing in Adobe Acrobat format. The functionality needed to secure document approval within Acrobat is something that a number of the players in the dsv market have been keen to develop. One of these is US supplier Communication Intelligence Corporation (CIC).

ISSN 0965-2590 /00/$20.00 © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

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Screen saver offerings As with other biometric types, dynamic signature verification suppliers also have their own off-the-shelf biometric screen savers. In fact, Cyber SIGN is now distributing its biometrics screen saver free of charge with purchases of a Wacom digitising tablet in Europe or the Middle East.

Signature verification Information online in demand A study conducted in the UK for Motorola endorses the view in other countries that consumers want to be able to bank and receive information electronically. Whether from a desktop or mobile device this necessitates security measures and biometrics such as digital signature verification could benefit. The study showed that services people want to receive electronically included travel timetables (39%), travel updates (for example road congestion or accident hot spots – 34%) and other sources (such as news and weather reports – 34%). A third would also want to buy their travel tickets electronically, while 31% would like to purchase other goods in this way. Access to services via a portable device was a less popular option, though still of interest to significant numbers of respondents. Banking is still the most popular service for people wishing to use mobile devices (33%), with ‘receive travel timetables’, ‘view information services’ and ‘receive travel updates’ via a portable device all being voted for by 26% of respondents.

Ready for 2000 The Speaker of the US House of Congress and senator Strom Thurmond used PenOp technology to demonstrate the significance of the electronic signature when they signed the Year 2000 Readiness and Responsibility Act. The process involved using a pressure-sensitive pad and pen-like stylus to sign the bill in their own handwriting. The electronic version was then emailed to President Clinton for approval.

Once a document has been created, the supplier’s Sign-it solution allows it to be signed by the required number of people using an epad pen input device from Interlink. Any later alterations to the document are recorded, along with new signatures with the original version available for review at any time. The whole package is secured using secure hash algorithm techniques, through release of a VeriSign digital certificate upon authentication, and public key encryption. Another well-known player in the market supporting Adobe Acrobat 4.0 is Cyber SIGN. The supplier’s Cyber-SIGN for Notes also support Lotus Notes and is made up of Workspace Anywhere, Sign-In and Sign-Doc. Workspace Anywhere enables a computer user, once verified, to use any computer on the network as their own, automatically bringing up their Notes desktop on another computer. Sign-In provides password replacement while Sign-Doc adds biometric authorisation to documents and on-line forms. These products were developed by Pioneer System Science and launched at the end of 1999. Cyber Sign’s product range can also support other packages, such as enCommerce’s getAccess, a portal infrastructure for secure authentication, authorisation and administrative services.

End users Any industry which moves documents or forms can use signature verification as security. According to CIC, an estimated 30 billion original documents are generated in corporate America alone. One industry where a number of developments have been made in the last year is the pharmaceutical sector. Fisher-Rosemont, for example, has used Cyber-SIGN to create EZ-Author, a workflow application for documentation approval in the pharmaceutical industry, while Phoenix Systems Integration has developed a secure document management system for the storage and

processing of production related documents for Bayer. Interest in dsv is now being shown by doctors and pharmacists as part of automated systems including patients, doctors, pharmacists and insurance claims. In the legal world, the Federal Court in Tampa, Florida, USA, is currently creating a legal document management system allowing court officials and attorneys to sign and encrypt Microsoft Word documents. The goal of this application is to speed up the lengthy process of attorney-toattorney communication as well as to provide undeniable evidence of the delivery for judicial order. A future application may include the remote signing of arrest warrants. Cyber SIGN’s signature software has also been integrated into document and workflow systems for the US State of Virginia’s Department of the Interior and the US Postal Service. In Asia, 100 000 employees at Japanese telecomms company NTT are using Cyber SIGN’s dsv technology to secure email and connection to the corporation’s central server for printing and signing letters from their desktop PCs, while the supplier is also providing a system for physical access control at the University of Japan for securing access to its computer rooms.

Virtual security Most biometrics companies have been working to join their biometric with PKI products. Signature verification companies are no different. CIC linked with VeriSign for its Sign-it for Adobe Acrobat; other dsv suppliers are also working on authentication modules that support VeriSign as well as PKI products from Xcert and Entrust. Virtual businesses are also endorsing dynamic signature verification. Two subsidiaries of CBQ, an internet business solutions provider, have chosen the signature authentication solution from the LCI Technology Group. CBQ!care.net is a healthcare provider and Prioritycash.com is a portal providing credit card approval and electronic funds transfer.

PDA explosion As all software suppliers know, ensuring that products work with an array of hardware ensures diversification of markets and a greater potential customer base. Digitiser tablets, which six years ago cost US$300, can now be bought for well under US$100. PenOp software, for example, will take into account any differences in input

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Signature verification from the various ‘approved’ tablets, so customers have a choice of off-the-shelf packages, able to work with a variety of digitiser tablets. However, with the exponential growth in use of handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) as business tools, desktop digitisers are no longer the only way to sign-off documents. Over the past year many dsv solutions have been launched for the PDA environment. This is likely to be a shrewd move, particularly considering the growth statistics for this market. Some 5.4 million handheld units were sold worldwide by the end of 1999, according to market forecast group IDC, with 3Com’s Palm devices dominating the market. IDC expects the

market for all such devices to grow to 18.9 million units by 2003. In particular, Japan will see a 40% growth rate over this time, with just under 10 million units sold by 2003. CIC’s Sign-it solution and PenOp’s PocketSign enable owners of a Palm OS handheld organiser to electronically sign documents and e-commerce transactions on their PC. According to Bill Dyszel, author of PalmPilot for Dummies: “PenOp PocketSign is the kind of application that makes your handheld organiser an indispensable tool even when it would otherwise be idle in the cradle on your desk.” With the ability to sign contracts and submit applications via the web or through e-mail,

A Selection of Commercially Available DSV Systems CIC

Quintet

By working with OEMs, Communication Intelligence Corporation (CIC) has evolved its business structure to set up a consumer-focused sales group that now works within vertical markets such as healthcare and government. With its background in handwriting recognition, the company is well positioned to move into the mobile market while its Sign-It solution is also seeing a lot of interest from the pharmaceutical and insurance sectors. It anticipates dynamic signature verification having a large part to play in the future of e-commerce.

Quintet has added more products to its range and been issued three more patents in the USA. The company has now licensed its technology to Smart Card Technology Group and E x W a y in Japan. The supplier’s SignCrypt software is available on all Windows platforms. With SignCrypt the encryption string is generated from the signature data and blended with a time stamp. Other products include Q-Safe, SignLock and SignShield. Q-Safe is a physical access control solution for safety deposit boxes. SignLock is a Windows NT multilayer access control system for LAN, WAN and individual NT workstations using three-factor authentication. SignShield allows a user to build a security shell to shield all files of concern. Access to files (which can be dragged and dropped into the secure environment) can be via password, signature or smart cards.

Cyber SIGN With a US$2.2million turnover last year, Cyber SIGN is expecting this to quadruple over the coming year as markets mature. The company is opening a European operation during the second quarter of 2000 to bridge the gap between Cyber SIGN in the US and Cadix in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The company feels that after eight years in the dsv business the world has finally woken up to it as a serious biometric solution. Insurance, banks and, of course, the mobile market are expected to be large markets for Cyber SIGN’s solution in 2000/2001.

DataVision Automated and manual visual comparison of the signatures for financial transactions are DataVision’s main markets. This US company offers dynamic signature verification as an add on to its solutions for financial institutions. Five signatures, signed on a DataVision digitiser tablet, are required from new customers for enrolment onto the supplier’s system.

IVI-Checkmate IVI Checkmate is a US leader in financial transaction systems. It has a number of signature verification products. Its en-Sign 2020 product is still available but has now been superceded by the eN-Touch 1000, which is a consumer activated touch screen and signature capture pad.

PenOp PenOp has had a good 1999 with the expansion of the PenOp Signature Series software to many different software packages and platforms, strategic partnerships with @pos.com and JefForm and the launch of plug-ins for Palm OS, Adobe Acrobat, Easy DMS, Cimmetry AutoVue, Microsoft Word and ELF Solutions’ I-32 product suite. Plans are now underway to deliver general authentication modules that support public key infrastructure (PKI) products from Xcert, Entrust and VeriSign.

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SoftPro Dynamic signature verification is offered as an additional module to its automated signature verification system for financial institutions checking signatures on cheques. Using SoftPro’s Sign Pad, the dynamics of a signature can be captured for later verification. The system can be used for verification at the teller window or at the point of sale. The verification of signers in high value transactions is of growing importance to the banking community with a number of banks around the world currently considering the use of dsv. (Deutsche Bank will be using SoftPro’s automated signature system from end of March with dsv coming in September/October).

WonderNet WonderNet and Wacom announced a joint strategic partnership at the end of last year to develop and market dynamic signature verification systems. The company’s product is called PenFlow. The software can pick out many factors, including the pen’s stroke rate, rhythm of movement and the height of the nib above the tablet between words. The software can also take into account variations in a person’s signature

Xenetek This small US company, which launched its Vericator II and Vericator API in 1999, told Btt that, “This year is shaping up to be our best year ever. The interest in the products is at an all time high”. Its systems have been designed for network access control and retail point of sale with software installation on the client processor. Equal error rates below one per cent have been quoted.

CIC results improve CIC announced year end results showing an increase of 42% in revenues from US$6.5 million in 1999 compared to US$4.5 million in 1998. Losses decreased from US$3.6 million to US$1.7 million in 1999.