Mount Airey Group, Acuant to release chip reader for passport authentication

Identity solutions firm Mount Airey Group, Inc. is partnering with data capture and authentication firm Acuant to release a comprehensive authentication solution for border control.

Acuant’s newly developed chip reader technology, Acuant CHIP, will serve as an integral aspect of AssureID which is integrated with Mount Airey Group’s Ozone e-Passport authentication technology.

The partnership offers the first-to-market certificate chain validation for passports, including country-specific policy controls.

Acuant CHIP conducts multiple authentication tests including basic access control (BAC) to cryptographically access the chip contents, active authentication to confirm the authenticity of the chip (and that it has not been duplicated), data group hash authentication to confirm that data group files have not been modified, and document signer authentication to confirm the authenticity of the data group hashes.

Ozone then cryptographically validates the document signer against its trusted country signer directory to confirm that it is a valid signer, that has not been revoked by the country, and that it complies with country-specific policy enforcement controls.

The Ozone processing either validates the authenticity of the individual’s document or determines that it is untrusted and potentially fake.

“Teaming with Mount Airey Group creates a gold standard for authentication for any use, be it by government or in the commercial sector,” said Steve Maloney, executive vice president of business development and strategy of Acuant.

Mount Airey Group, which supports government and commercial organizations on a global scale, has worked with Acuant to integrate its Ozone e-Passport authentication technology.

As a core component of AssureID, the authentication technology collects all relevant PKI data for each country and validates any electronic passport for compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

The combined offering validates a passport’s certificate chain to validate that the document was electronically signed and issued by the originating country, and can therefore be trusted as an authentic identity document.

The e-Passport solution can also resolve other issues regarding passports with individualized policies for every country, and complies with all ISO and ICAO standards for e-Passports.

“We are excited to partner with Acuant to create a new standard in chip certification and document authentication that will make it extremely difficult for someone to counterfeit a passport and unlawfully pass through border and airport security processes,” said Paul Townsend, director of cybersecurity at Mount Airey Group, Inc. “Together, we’ve introduced the most comprehensive solution on the market that leverages the latest identity verification and authentication technologies.”

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  epassport  |  identity verification  |  secure documents