GUARD YOUR IDENTITY VISUALLY
Card Personalization is Now Making Government ID Cards More Secure With Better Visual Security
T“visual security solutions take time to develop and implement, so plan ahead. One must remember that visual security is the first line of defense against threats to people, property, assets, information and infrastructure”
he global smart cards market is expected to exceed more than US$14 billion by 2023 growing at a CAGR of more than 7.0% from 2015. However, the industry has also witnessed a number of incidents with respect to security, especially cyber security. According to a study by ASSOCHAM and PwC, hackers have known to have compromised over a billion global identities in 2016 alone. With several ID cards transforming into smart cards, it is imperative that security both visual and otherwise, needs to be top-notch. It is now time for enterprise IT security decision makers to revisit their cyber security resilience and look for integrated solutions. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of photo ID card inspections are undertaken visually and in the field. In fact, visual inspections are often the first and primary form of document investigation and validation. Any decisions to use a secondary inspection criteria are often based on the outcome of the visual inspection. For this reason, good badge design and the selection of the right custom ID card printing solution is important. These components are crucial in creating visually secure credentials that incorporate elements that can be scrutinized and validated during the initial inspection. The speed, cost-effectiveness, convenience and simplicity of visual inspections have made them particularly popular in government applications including national ID cards, permit and enforcement documents, and federal ID credentials. These cards, documents and credentials must be clearly authentic and genuine, so, the importance of having a well-designed visual security solution cannot be overstated. Typical visual security features include holographic overlaminates and card pre-printing. Holographic overlaminates may include numerous overt, covert and forensic features, while pre-printing options range from holograms and various types of security printing to special inks, relief structures, laser images, optical variable ink (OVI), hidden features, and randomized UV markings. There are dozens of visual security combinations that can be considered, and a lot of such options are available to help customers make the right choices for their requirements.
It’s important to note that most of the visual security solutions that are offered today are one-size-fits-all, meaning they are exactly the same on every single document. While this is still a very effective solution, an additional level of defense can be applied by utilizing card printing features including personalizing IDs with on-card visual security options. The ID designs can now play a role in the first line defense against counterfeiting by taking visual security features and customizing them to each unique card holder or user.
As with other forms of security, visual security solutions take time to develop and implement, so plan ahead. One must remember that visual security is the first line of defense against threats to people, property, assets, information and infrastructure. Organisations need to make sure to implement visual security as part of a well- developed and managed, multi-level security solution.