The Use of Biometric Data in the Focus of SECURITY EXPO 2019

Nearly 100 innovative technological solutions offered higher confidence to business customers for physical and digital security

In the course of three days, from 6 to 9 March, in Inter Expo Center, the 26th edition of the international exhibition SECURITY EXPO presented solutions for higher security through the use of biometric data. Once again, the exhibition turned into a platform for establishing contacts, sharing ideas, presenting new products and technologies. In addition, the shows which ran in parallel with SECURITY EXPO, ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION WEEK and WATER TECH EXPO made it possible to establish more beneficial business contacts in sectors of public significance. From 6 to 9 March, over 7,200 professionals visited the three exhibitions.

SECURITY EXPO is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Interior, through General Directorate “Fire Safety and Protection of Population” and Directorate “Communication and Information Systems,” the Ministry of Defence, through the Defence Institute “Professor Tsvetan Lazarov” and Sofia Municipality, through Directorate “Emergency Relief and Prevention.”

The leaders in the field of video surveillance have for several years offered the possibility to use a fingerprint and face recognition for access control. This year, technologies have shown even greater advances and provide the opportunity for visual communication between parties. An even bigger part of the business has started using such innovative technologies, people from SECTRON shared. For yet another year, they showed improved video surveillance solutions and systems in their high-tech demo truck.

Visitors viewed cameras for face and image recognition in hard-to-access areas, next-generation cameras without blind spots and higher capacity for video analysis. Leading companies, such as Andi L and TEKRA, also presented working and successful video surveillance systems. This is how the Bulgarian public learned more about the advantages of solutions by world leading brands like BOSCH, HKVISION, SONY.

From the presentation by SECTRON, customers learnt more about new products in the field of fire alarms, alarm systems, evacuation and voice notification systems, rapid fire suppression systems. Visitors also witnessed the premiere of the cargo electric vehicle ALKE. The innovative fire extinguishing module Shumcar from Auto Engineering is an option already preferred by many of the Bulgarian forestries.

We now sign with our mobile phone
New biometric-based technologies offer higher security and are evidence of the exceptional progress of the business. This is happening not only in the field of physical guards and security, but also in digital cybersecurity. This is what became clear during the second conference on secure and digital payments SECURITY OF DIGITAL PAYMENTS on 6 March, organized by Inter Expo Center. A modern and secure system for electronic identification through a mobile phone was presented at the conference, the system’s creator, professor Georgi Dimitrov shared. It allows overall digital transformation and an option for remote electronic signature. The system was declared a champion in digital transformation by EC, an example of a breakthrough solution in the field of digitalization in the investment development report at the World Economic Forum in Davos. This revolutionary change will soon be one of the products offered by BORICA. We will be able to pay using fingerprint and face recognition, Radoslav Dimitrov, director of “Cards and Terminals” at Borica, announced. Biological features become passwords.
The conference was also attended by the world leader in software solutions for fraud prevention, OneSpan. The company has won the trust of more than half of the top 100 financial institutions in the world like HSBC, Deutsche Bank, US Bank, MUFG, Mizuho. Other innovative Bulgarian companies also presented successful systems and approaches for preventing financial misuse.

We now pay using a fingerprint and face scanning
The FinTech industry is rapidly developing. The Paysera FinTech company, which started out as an intermediary for cheap inter-currency transfers, is now gathering speed to become a working online bank. In 2018 only, customers have made payments for over 540 million leva, and the company has saved its clients more than 2 million leva from fees and commission fees. In contrast to many other banks, it uses a multi-factor identification system.

Mobile payments are still something new for the Bulgarian market, but they will be growing in number. Participants saw live the creators of the most innovative FinTech companies, Paynetics and Phyre, Valeri Valchev and Konstantin Dzhelebov demonstrating a payment being made and received in just a few seconds over two phones.
The banking system in Bulgaria is opening up and should offer its client a secure and convenient customer experience. However, at present there only a few banks which open their systems for new market players.

The goal is to make payments not using a card, but the customer’s account, regardless of the bank he is with, commented Vladimir Ikonomov, chair of the Bulgarian Association of the Certified Fraud Examiners, part of the international organization ACFE.

The share of digital channels is yet to grow, and Bulgaria is one of the countries with serious potential in this field. At the same time, online fraud in EU has increased by 27% in the past 3 years. This year, a growth of 8% is expected.

Do not pay ransom in cryptocurrency, experts advise
Fraud is most often done during real-time transactions. On 7 March, demonstrations of real hacker attacks were presented by experts from the Information Security Cluster and the Bulgarian Association of Certified Ethical Hackers. Weaknesses lie in the confidence of every business hat this cannot happen to it, in using one and the same password. What is the solution?

The use of secure applications and several levels of recognition, or two or three-factor authentication is a must. It is extremely important to use outside companies to manage all available information and prevent attempts at information and monetary misuse.

More and more companies are losing millions because of malicious cryptoviruses. Do not pay a ransom and it is almost certain that you will have to forsake all your information, Rostislav Petrov, chair of the Bulgarian Association of Certified Ethical Hackers, commented.