Dave Savastano10.31.07
Nov. 1, 2007 will see the launch of the second-generation of ePassports in Germany. As of then, two fingerprints will be additionally captured at the passport office when citizens apply for a passport.
Following the perfectly smooth launch of the first phase of introduction for electronic passports in November 2005, Bundesdruckerei GmbH once again expects the second phase to get off to a successful start. "We have performed numerous test runs in recent weeks and months, all of which went well. We are very confident that the launch of the second phase on 1 November will be a success", says Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei GmbH.
The application process for passports will change on 1 November. First of all, the almost 6,000 passport offices in Germany will now only send their applications in electronic form to Bundesdruckerei in Berlin. The previous paper application will then be a thing of the past. In addition to this, passport office staff will capture two fingerprints from each applicant in a precisely defined procedure and integrate these into the application. The fingerprint images will be stored on the chip in the passport only.
Bundesdruckerei has provided the passport authorities with fingerprint scanners to capture fingerprints. Extensive training materials were provided by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Bundesdruckerei in order to teach staff how to use the hardware and software correctly. In recent months, information meetings were also held for passport authority employees.
The application data is encrypted and sent in digital form to Bundesdruckerei. In order to ensure secure transmission of the data, Bundesdruckerei has established new data channels and invested in new hardware and software.
The OSCI transport standard (OSCI = Online Services Computer Interface) is used to transmit the data. This standard was developed as a standardised protocol for data transmission. Bundesdruckerei uses this standard to provide modules for the authentication of the communication participants and to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data.
Noted Ulrich Hamann: "One huge challenge which we faced was the integration of the necessary technologies into the passport offices' extremely heterogeneous IT landscape as well as the need to promptly implement the changing specifications at short notice. By the way, Bundesdruckerei is the first company in the world to implement EAC ("Extended Access Control") throughout in order to protect fingerprints according to the EU standard."
At the passport office, citizens can view the contents of the chip in their passports using a special device, the so-called ePassport reader. Since fingerprint data is particularly sensitive, this data is given special protection. The chip data can only be read using reading devices that have been issued with the correct authorisation certificate from the Federal Office for Information Security.
This is carried out via the so-called online PKI provided by Bundesdruckerei. Each time the chip data of a passport is to be read, the device must request the certificate online. This ensures the highest degree of security. Communication between ePassport readers and Bundesdruckerei's certificate servers is encrypted and protected against tapping.
Following the perfectly smooth launch of the first phase of introduction for electronic passports in November 2005, Bundesdruckerei GmbH once again expects the second phase to get off to a successful start. "We have performed numerous test runs in recent weeks and months, all of which went well. We are very confident that the launch of the second phase on 1 November will be a success", says Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei GmbH.
The application process for passports will change on 1 November. First of all, the almost 6,000 passport offices in Germany will now only send their applications in electronic form to Bundesdruckerei in Berlin. The previous paper application will then be a thing of the past. In addition to this, passport office staff will capture two fingerprints from each applicant in a precisely defined procedure and integrate these into the application. The fingerprint images will be stored on the chip in the passport only.
Bundesdruckerei has provided the passport authorities with fingerprint scanners to capture fingerprints. Extensive training materials were provided by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Bundesdruckerei in order to teach staff how to use the hardware and software correctly. In recent months, information meetings were also held for passport authority employees.
The application data is encrypted and sent in digital form to Bundesdruckerei. In order to ensure secure transmission of the data, Bundesdruckerei has established new data channels and invested in new hardware and software.
The OSCI transport standard (OSCI = Online Services Computer Interface) is used to transmit the data. This standard was developed as a standardised protocol for data transmission. Bundesdruckerei uses this standard to provide modules for the authentication of the communication participants and to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data.
Noted Ulrich Hamann: "One huge challenge which we faced was the integration of the necessary technologies into the passport offices' extremely heterogeneous IT landscape as well as the need to promptly implement the changing specifications at short notice. By the way, Bundesdruckerei is the first company in the world to implement EAC ("Extended Access Control") throughout in order to protect fingerprints according to the EU standard."
At the passport office, citizens can view the contents of the chip in their passports using a special device, the so-called ePassport reader. Since fingerprint data is particularly sensitive, this data is given special protection. The chip data can only be read using reading devices that have been issued with the correct authorisation certificate from the Federal Office for Information Security.
This is carried out via the so-called online PKI provided by Bundesdruckerei. Each time the chip data of a passport is to be read, the device must request the certificate online. This ensures the highest degree of security. Communication between ePassport readers and Bundesdruckerei's certificate servers is encrypted and protected against tapping.