Developed by UK’s Ingenia Technology Ltd. and showcased at this year’s PISEC Conference, this breakthrough anti-counterfeit technology is said to be even more highly accurate than hologram or DNA security verification techniques.

Most authenticity verification methods used for important documents and high-value products rely on some manufacturing process (for example, watermarks and holograms) which is difficult, though not impossible, to reproduce.

However, there’s a new, proprietary, and patented technology – the Laser Surface Authentication system (LSA ^TM) – that can rapidly analyze the surface of any item and read a unique digital serial code for the item. This code, which is similar to a “fingerprint” or DNA sequence for the item, is exclusive to every document, card and carton and can be used to clearly identify the item. The serial code occurs naturally and is not added by any manufacturing step.

In the recent eighth annual Global Product and Image Security Convention (“PISEC”), the flagship event for professionals and businesses who are involved in brand, product and image security, Professor Russell Cowburn, inventor of Laser Surface Authentication or LSA™, demonstrated in a keynote speech just why his invention is the next generation of security technology.

The brainchild of Cowburn, Professor of Physics, and his team in the Nanotechnology laboratories of Imperial College, LSA recognizes and verifies the inherent “fingerprint” on all papers, plastics, metals and ceramics. It can therefore be used to detect fraudulent or counterfeit reproductions of valuable documents such as passports, bank notes, ID cards and credit cards, as well as items such as pharmaceutical products and consumer goods including tobacco, alcohol and mobile phones. Unlike traditional “hologram” forms of security verification, LSA is highly accurate – often more so than DNA.

Here’s how it works:

·         A scanner with a low-power focused laser beam scans across the surface of the item to be identified and records the details of the way the laser light is reflected off the surface of the paper or plastic.

·         Microscopic irregularities on the surface result in complex scattering of the laser beam, through the optical phenomenon of 'speckle', which is the basis of a signature that is unique to any given sheet of paper or plastic. The scanner can detect surface irregularities of less than a few hundred nanometers in size.

·         Fingerprints of genuine documents, cards and packaging would be read on the way out of the issuing agency or factory and then stored in a central database or written onto the item using an encrypted barcode. To check the validity of the item later, the fingerprint would be re-read and compared against the database or against the barcode.

·         Scanning time is up to 4 meters per second if the item to be scanned is already moving, as in a printing press or on a production line, or about 1 second if the item is static.

·         When comparing a scanned fingerprint against a database of possible matches, a standard desktop PC can check 10 million entries per second. A more sophisticated server can check 100 million entries per second.

How does LSA differ from other authentication verification methods? It provides:

·         The ability to be applied retroactively to existing documents, cards and packaging

·         Low per-item cost – no tags to pay for, none to detach

·         Low-cost scanning hardware

·         Extremely low probability of two naturally occurring codes matching each other

·         Covert and embedded authenticity

·         Resistance to wear and tear and intentional damage

·         Greater accuracy than DNA

·         Greater security – no known method to fraudulently copy a code

·         Adaptability for track-and-trace solutions

A Bayer Technology Service forgery-proof authentication product based on LSA technology (ProteXXion®) was recently awarded the prestigious Hermes Award, the international technology prize awarded by the Hanover Fair.