African Government Enters Test Phase for Biometric Smart Card Featuring Technology from Softlock and NEXT Biometrics

NEXT Biometrics, a global leader in fingerprint sensor technology, and Softlock, a regional leader in Information Security, are pleased to announce that biometric smart cards incorporating a joint technology solution has entered testing phase in an e-government project of an African country.

The biometric smart cards are equipped with NEXT’s large-area, fully flexible fingerprint sensor and Softlock’s operating system plus Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and biometric applets.

The smart cards will be used for secure 2-factor authentication and as main element in an initiative to introduce a higher level of security in e-government projects. They will replace less secure PKI-based tokens plus PIN code in favor of the unambiguous authentication with the user’s fingerprint.

“We are very pleased that the joint solution has now entered testing stage,” said Alain Faburel, NEXT Biometrics Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. “Biometric 2-factor authentication offers a high level of security combined with user convenience and holds good potential in e-government, enterprise, healthcare and many more application areas.”

“NEXT’s proven and superior fingerprint sensor technology ideally complements our information security solutions,” said Magdy Sharawy, CEO of Softlock. “A seamless and intuitive end user experience is key for the adoption and success of security solutions.”

The current testing phase will be followed by a pilot project of the solution during 2020.

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