

The Russian company, Papillon AO, boasts in its own publications about its close cooperation with various Russian ministries as well as the Federal Security Service - the intelligence agency known as the FSB that is a successor of the Soviet-era KGB and has been implicated in other hacks of US targets.Ĭybersecurity experts said the danger of using the Russian-made code couldn’t be assessed without examining the code itself.
Sagem morpho fingerprints software#
The Russian company whose code ended up in the FBI’s fingerprint-analysis software has Kremlin connections that should raise similar national security concerns, said the whistleblowers, both French nationals who worked in Russia. Kaspersky, has denied any involvement in or knowledge of the hack. The department later clarified that the order didn’t apply to “Kaspersky code embedded in the products of other companies.” The company’s founder, Eugene V. This September, the Department of Homeland Security ordered all federal agencies to stop using products made by the Moscow-based company Kaspersky Lab, including its popular antivirus software, and media outlets reported that Russian hackers had exploited it to steal sensitive information on US intelligence programs. In recent years, Russian hackers have gained access to everything from the Democratic National Committee’s email servers to the systems of nuclear power companies to the unclassified computers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to US authorities. The firm - then a subsidiary of the massive Paris-based conglomerate Safran - deliberately concealed from the FBI the fact that it had purchased the Russian code in a secret deal, they said. The Russian code was inserted into the fingerprint-analysis software by a French company, said the two whistleblowers, who are former employees of that company.
The allegations raise concerns that Russian hackers could gain backdoor access to sensitive biometric information on millions of Americans, or even compromise wider national security and law enforcement computer systems. and civil agencies doing background checks will use the NGI system.The fingerprint-analysis software used by the FBI and more than 18,000 other US law enforcement agencies contains code created by a Russian firm with close ties to the Kremlin, according to documents and two whistleblowers. Law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. This phase of the NGI project involves the core biometric processing and matching capability using 10 fingerprints, which is the basis for most law enforcement and other systems requiring the highest accuracy. MorphoTrak's technical solution is based on its own matching algorithms and open architecture, which enables a fusion with the algorithms of its U.S. MorphoTrak's technology was chosen based on a trade study process that rigorously and objectively evaluated vendors' solutions to select the right biometric technology at the best value.

provider of automated fingerprint identification systems, supplying law enforcement and civil identification systems to 28 states, numerous local government agencies and several other Federal agencies," stated Daniel Vassy, CEO of MorphoTrak. It will also enhance our position as the U.S. This fresh initiative will expand the capabilities of the FBI's identification system, delivering increased speed, accuracy and capacity. "We are very pleased to be a part of the team, led by Lockheed Martin, which will work with the FBI in upgrading their identification services. MorphoTrak, a recognized provider of fingerprint identification, has been awarded a contract by Lockheed Martin to provide fingerprint identification technology for the FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) system.
