Latest News

Alitheon Accelerates ‘Biometrics of Things’ Rollout

Alitheon, an optical AI technology provider, based in Washington, USA, has raised $8 million in Series A1 funding to accelerate deployment of its FeaturePrint® technology, a system that identifies and authenticates physical objects using their own inherent surface characteristics rather than external labels, tags or markings.

Luminochem LUREDBN25: The Balanced Red for Security Printing

NovaVera Crystallography: Closing the Gap in Taggant Performance

At the recent High Security Printing™ EMEA conference, in Rabat, Morocco, the technology and innovation session highlighted notable advances in the field of authentication. These included a new class of inorganic taggants for digital and conventional printing processes, presented by Josh Collins of NovaVera.

Seaborough’s LUMICRYPT Engineers Unique Luminescent Fingerprints

Security printing has always borrowed optical phenomena from physics and chemistry, and few of these phenomena are as useful as luminescence. A luminescent ‘phosphor’ is an inorganic material that can soak up light of one colour, often ultraviolet (UV), and then re-emit it at another, usually visible, colour. In a banknote or secure document, that behaviour becomes a controlled ‘signal’. Under normal lighting, the ink may look unremarkable, but under a defined UV lamp it produces a distinctive glow that is easy to spot and, importantly, can be measured.

Labels That Authenticate… Then Dissolve

Researchers at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in South Korea have developed an eco-friendly smart security label that combines colour-based verification with holographic authentication. This sustainable alternative to conventional security labels can dissolve completely in water, leaving no trace.

Diamond Dust is a Label’s Best Friend

Securikett, a provider of tamper-evident security labels and brand protection products, has announced a strategic partnership with Dust Identity, a provider of physical-to-digital identity technology.

Nanosilikhan Partners with TPI to Elevate Tax Stamp Security in India

Nanosilikhan Advanced Materials (formerly Nanobrick), a South Korean company specialising in nanoscale technologies with sophisticated overt and covert features, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Track Pack Innovation (TPI), a provider of eco-friendly, tamper-evident alcohol stamps to several Indian states.

News in Brief

Thomas Just Sørensen, a chemist at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, has developed the O-KEY® technology – a kind of digital fingerprint for physical products.

Creating QR Codes from Living Bacteria

Using living bacteria to store information is not a new idea. For years, researchers have experimented with bacterial patterns, fluorescent microbes and bio-based codes. But despite the intrigue, these approaches have remained laboratory curiosities, largely unsuited to real-world security or authentication.

Innovations Showcased at High Security Printing Asia

At the recent High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia conference, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over 300 delegates gathered to examine how technologies for banknotes, passports, and other secure documents are evolving to address today’s requirements for sophisticated, yet environment-friendly solutions.

Using ‘Smart Glue’ to Fight Counterfeiting

Glue is everywhere. It holds together packaging, labels, books, electronics, furniture, car parts and medical products. Yet it is usually treated as a simple commodity – not as a security feature.

‘Self-Healing’ Thermochromic Ink

While thermochromic ink is often used as an anticounterfeiting tool for applications such as tax stamps, many security printing and brand protection firms consider the ink to provide a weaker level of protection compared to more advanced technologies, in large part because it is widely available to any printer.

Optical Technology Award Winners – OLED Displays and Warm Labels

The International Optical Technologies Association recently announced the winners of its inaugural Excellence in Optical Technologies Awards, during a ceremony at the Optical & Digital Document Security™ conference in Warsaw, Poland.

When IR Patterns Become Tunable

Until now, infrared-based security features have faced a drawback, in that once a pattern is printed or encoded, it cannot be changed. Most systems are static, meaning the same hidden pattern is locked in at the point of manufacture, limiting the complexity and adaptability of the protection.

When IR Patterns Become Tunable

Until now, infrared-based security has faced a drawback, in that once a pattern is printed or encoded, it cannot be changed. Most systems are static, meaning the same hidden pattern is locked in at the point of manufacture, limiting the complexity and adaptability of the protection.

Cellulose-Based Luminescent Films Promise Advanced Brand Protection

Efforts to combat counterfeiting have traditionally relied on visual markers such as holograms, microtext, and invisible inks, but advanced replication technologies are increasingly challenging these measures.

Advanced Fluorescent Nanomaterials Transform Forensic Fingerprint Analysis

Since the late 19th century, fingerprinting has been an indispensable tool for identity verification and forensic investigation. After the initial idea of cataloguing to allow comparisons between prints for purposes of identification was formulated by Sir Francis Galton, fingerprinting became the first biometric measure accepted globally for criminal investigations. This approach provided a standardised method, eventually leading to extensive fingerprint databases used in law enforcement.

Turns Out That 3 Into 1 Will Go

For many companies involved in authentication, the technologies they deploy are aimed at preventing cyber and online attacks. But, as this report demonstrates, research into authenticating physical goods still continues apace.