The weakest link

“The circle will never stop, someone will always find the weakest link,” declared Michael Fuchs, minister of the interior of Austria, welcoming delegates to the 2013 International Conference and Exhibition of Security Printers, organized by Intergraf.

Perhaps that was just Fuchs’ way of assuring that the printers, currency authorities, designers and makers of security products still have, or will always have, a way of making a living.

Gathered in Vienna, more than a hundred experts involved in the production of security documents—currencies, passports, treasury bonds, receipts and certificates—as well as those involved in ensuring these are free from fraud and counterfeiting from both government and the private sector, met for three days discussing new developments in the field and better ways of securing sensitive documents.

A decade ago, noted Fuchs, whose ministry oversees the production of Austrian passports, “passports carried no security features.” But the introduction of micro-chips, now embedded in most passports around the world, have brought passport security to an entirely new level, just as criminals had grown bolder in their attempts to make money and break through borders.

One point the first-day speakers and presenters stressed again and again was that even the most elaborate and high-tech security forces were only as effective as the frontliners responsible for inspecting documents, currencies and other forms, and for detecting fakes or tampered products.

Which is why, said Gudrun Goren of the Canadian Borders Services Agency, much of their work involved training immigration agents, border security forces and even civilians like bank tellers and traders, on the latest technology safety features, as well as the latest ways by which criminals sought to skirt or cheat the system.

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But there is more to security printing than just computer chips, holograms or treated paper. It can also involve using art, culture and history to enhance public documents’ security as well as the appreciation of the public and the value citizens put on them.

This was brought home by Joseph Nugent, of Ireland’s passport service, who demonstrated the long, complex process behind the creation of the new Irish e-passport.

The new passport, said Nugent, made use of Celtic art work as well as of Irish poetry and music not just to add security features to the document, but also to enhance the people’s appreciation of their country’s culture and history.

“For our major security features, we made use of art and Irish culture as our framework,” explained Nugent. The “46 different security features,” he said, “are difficult to forge,” and most important, were incorporated into the new passport at minimal cost.

Among these features were Irish “faces” from mythology printed on the edges of certain pages which, when matched with the right counterpart, formed a complete portrait. There are also pages bearing a piece of Irish music which, if one followed the notes on a piano, turned out to be a familiar Irish ditty.

We often take our passports for granted, considering them as a mere vessel to facilitate our travels. But the new Irish passport shows how the document cannot only be secured from fraud, but can also be a showcase of design and culture, a symbol of pride and nationalism.

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One of the exhibitors at the Intergraf meeting was Andrews & Wykeham, a “security boutique” based in the United Kingdom.

The firm, said business development director Max Zolotukin, has been making holographic products, such as stickers, labels and imprints that protect against fraud and counterfeiting.

There are three levels of assuring the security of public documents, said Zolotukin. The first is the general public who can judge the genuineness of a document from the way it looks and feels. At the second level is the inspector, such as an immigration agent, who can use lasers, black light or hand-held magnifiers for a closer look at a document’s authenticity. Forensic examiners “check for deeply embedded features,” some of which cannot be revealed publicly. Even so, said Zolotukin, authorities are able to detect only a small percentage of fake documents in circulation, with security only as strong as its weakest link, which is the ordinary citizen.

“The Philippines is an important market” for the firm, noted Zolotukin, adding that the country is the second in terms of volume and value in the Asean region.

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Rightnow, he added, they are looking at broadening the market for their holographic stickers to include pharmaceutical products, with many products that are fake or of uncertain origin, or even outright dangerous to life and health, out in the market.

The idea, said Zolotukin, is to work with manufacturers and government certification bodies (such as our Food and Drug Administration) to ascertain the safety of pharmaceuticals, and even food and liquor products. The holographic labels or stickers will then be used by consumers as a way of determining quality and safety.

Our government already carries out this means of consumer protection with the use of holographic labels for consumer goods like light bulbs, Christmas décor and other products. But what the Filipino public needs to know, said the Andrews & Wykeham executive, is to look for such quality assurance as well as the ways to ascertain their authenticity.

Everyone needs to be aware of such safety features, for the “weakest link” is truly the unaware consumer, who cares more for how much something costs (the lower the better) than for health or safety.