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Xerox Document Security Technologies
Security At Xerox
Document Security Technologies
Glyphs - Redefining the Document
Aesthetic-looking DataGlyphs store hundreds of times more data than bar codes and can recreate themselves when damaged or tampered with.
Bar codes have been used for years to encode data on paper, but they are eyesores and hold a limited amount of information. Most contain simple serial numbers that link to detailed databases. Answering the need for a more portable database, a technology called DataGlyph has been developed by Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a subsidiary of Xerox Corporation. It stores hundreds of times more data than bar codes, making ordinary paper smarter. Better yet, DataGlyphs are aesthetically pleasing and "occlusion tolerant," meaning that unlike bar codes, they can recreate themselves when damaged.
DataGlyphs encode information in thousands of tiny glyphs - diagonal lines that can be as short as 1/100th of an inch depending on the resolution of the printer. Each glyph slopes backward or forward to represent a binary 0 or 1. Glyphs are laid down in groups on a regular, finely spaced grid to form unobtrusive, evenly textured gray or colored areas. Even when groups of glyphs are large enough to be seen by the human eye, they form a pleasing pattern that is not distracting.
Anyone with the proper encoding software and a standard printer can create a DataGlyph, which can be treated as a standard design element or hidden in the corner of the document. Built-in error correction and randomization make DataGlyphs highly reliable and blur the line between the paper and digital world. If the information that is printed on a document is also encoded on it as a DataGlyph, the original document can be recovered even after it has been ripped, stained, or altered. Software code-named "GlyphSeals" reads the DataGlyphs on a scanned image of the page and can print the recovered data in its entirety. If more than 20 percent of the DataGlyph is missing or damaged, the software reports a decode failure.
Since DataGlyphs store the same types of information that a computer can, a paper document can become as powerful as software. In other words, all the electronic data for the document is encoded in the document itself. Beyond image and text, a DataGlyph can store Java or ActiveX controls for automatic downloading applets onto a client PC. It can tell a server where to route a document or a printer what type of stationery to use. Equally as useful, if someone makes notes on a DataGlyph document, a computer can lift off the annotations and either store them separately or remove the mark-ups completely.
Glossmark - Anti-Counterfeit Measure for the Office
"Xerox's Glossmark technology provides added security features to documents at print time. It helps tackle counterfeiting and fraud by embedding a hologram-like image onto the surface of the printout.

This creates a tamper-proof document and guarantees its authenticity. The Glossmark is visible to the eye, but cannot be reproduced on a copy of the original."

                                                                                                               Source: Gartner Perspective, 5/17/04
Overview
Xerox Glossmark technology is a "watermarking" technology that exhibits a special visual effect by creating different levels of gloss within an image. The Glossmark is an image or pattern embedded in an existing image without the need for special toners or paper. Similar to traditional watermarks, embedded Glossmarks can be easily observed without the assistance of special devices, yet cannot be deleted or reproduced by conventional scanning or copying.
Glossmark technology combines a visually striking gloss image with a high quality color image in a seamless fashion, and allows both images to be easily viewed with little interference.
Benefits of Glossmarks:
  • Can record variable information.
  • Can be produced by existing Xerox printing solutions.
  • Do not require assisted viewing.
  • Cannot be reproduced using conventional equipment.
  • Use conventional toners and papers.
  • Are very difficult to counterfeit.
  • Can be varied in appearance from striking to subtle.
Potential Applications for Glossmarks:
AestheticsAuthenticationDocument with Hidden Message
  • Graphics
  • Packaging
  • Signage
  • Promotional materials
  • Legal documents
  • Vouchers, certificates, tickets
  • Logo, trademark, brand
  • Job integrity
  • Bar code
Check 21
Building a Secure Document:
Xerox will help customers to conform to "Check 21" - a government regulation that is mandatory for all financial institutions by October 2004. Xerox is working with financial institutions and other partners to reduce the risk of fraud involved when checks are scanned and printed - "substitute checks." This security feature is not just confined to "checks", but extends to other documents, such as "legal contracts", as well.
Other Fraud:
According to the FBI, fraud consists of two major categories:
  • Duplicating or counterfeiting, which is the reproduction of an original document with today's high tech equipment.
  • Forgery, which consists of obtaining an original document 1] and altering the original information using chemicals, erasure, or scraping.
     1] Theft does not have to be involved. Alterations can be made to a legitimately issued check.
Protection against duplication and alteration:
DuplicationDuplication
Xerox Fraud Solution: warning bands		      AlterationAlteration
Xerox Fraud Solution: chemical void
Paper Based FeaturesPaper-based Features
Xerox Fraud Solution: visible fibers		      Ink based featuresInk-based Features
Xerox Fraud Solution: heat reactive ink
Image Based FeaturesImage-based Features
Xerox Fraud Solution: padlock icon


            
With different safeguard levels:
Overt feautures, or easily recognizedOvert Features
Xerox Fraud Solution: bleedthrough
numbering		      Covert FeaturesCovert Features
Xerox Fraud Solution: fluorescent inks
Check Fraud/Duplication:
Check Production Integrity provides two levels of auditing procedures to help protect against duplication and theft of printed checks and diversion of blank check stock. Media Log accounts for each sheet of paper by tracking sheets from the time that they are fed, to their subsequent disposition.

"Print validation" reads a symbology, such as a bar code on the check page or the MICR line itself, to check for duplicate or out of sequence checks. If the data is available, the total amount of the check run can also be provided.
EPS Resource Security:
Allows password control on check-related resources such as fonts and sig-natures. This feature works exclusively with LCDS/Metacode jobs. It allows each supervisor to have a unique password. Password authentication can be implemented at either the individual [local] printer or the network server [NIS] level.