A Canadian company claims it has a unique product that can spur acceptance of biometric encryption.
The Touchstone device, from Mytec Technologies Inc. of Toronto, includes a patented technology called Bioscrypt-a coded key or personal identification number that can be decoded only when the user's finger slides across a scanner.
Mytec says it adds a layer of security to the fingerprint scanning methods typical at other vendors.
"What we do is slide a finger across a scanner, which takes the information in the finger pattern and allows it to descramble the encrypted key," said George Tomko, chairman and co-founder of Mytec.
The finger itself becomes essentially an encryption key and can be used in place of a personal identification number at a keyboard, automated teller machine, telephone, or to scramble data over the Internet.
"With this kind of technology, everyone's finger is a potential encryption key," said Mr. Tomko.
He said companies such as Identix Inc. and Identicator Corp. would compete against Mytec mainly in the access control market, which is estimated to be worth about $100 million by 1999.
However, Mytec's target market is data protection and security of information over open networks through authentication, encryption, security, and nonrepudiation, said Keith Clemons, vice president of marketing for Mytec. "We estimate this is a much bigger market, worth $10 billion by 1999," he said.
"There is a different market in biometric encryption where the finger can serve as a key management tool," said Mr. Tomko. Other companies "just use the biometric device to authenticate. We use the finger to release the key or PIN and to download digital cash onto a smart card."
Mytec has hired PaineWebber Inc. in New York to search out a marketing partner for its product in the United States.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Montreal, two of the biggest banks in Canada, have concluded trials, and two large banks and two regional banks in the United States are expected to begin trials within a month.
Mytec signed an agreement with Compaq Computer Corp. last October to consider adding Touchstone to its keyboards. Compaq and others are evaluating it for possible deployment next year.
Among other Mytec applications: trials with the social services ministry of a South American government, a partnership with Deluxe Corp. to sell fraud prevention devices to video stores, an agreement with the National Bankruptcy Information Bureau to sell fraud prevention services to the cellular telephone industry, units in place at the Louvre Museum in Paris for time and attendance, and a data security pilot with Abbott Laboratories in Chicago.
"The real issue is getting people to accept using finger patterns," said Mr. Tomko.
He and Dennis Hollingshead founded the company in 1988 to develop optical computing technologies but had a hard time raising money in Canada. Since they had experience in the alarm business-Mr. Hollingshead was a one- time general manager of Chubb Security, and Mr. Tomko is an electrical engineer with a PhD in neural physiology-they moved into security monitoring. This business contributed to Mytec's 1996 revenues of 10 million Canadian dollars and payroll of 85 people.
In 1993, after initial public stock and warrants offerings, Mytec had enough money to start developing optical processing technology. "The first product was the size of a billiard table, but now it can fit into a keyboard," said Mr. Tomko.
It expects to begin commercial production of Touchstone in October.
The Touchstone device uses hardware for reading the finger pattern and software to encrypt it. It measures about 3 inches by 6 inches by 0.5 inch, but the configuration depends on the application. It will cost $995 in small volumes.
