Security fears over foreign printer that won bid to make documents

SEVERAL fears over security and quality have been raised about Gemalto, with questions as to whether it should be trusted to make Britain’s new blue passports and handle data on UK citizens.

The Franco-Dutch firm supplied Estonia with 750,000 national ID cards with security flaws. Estonia’s former president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, accused it of irresponsible behaviour after it failed to notify his nation of the flaws, which were discovered by a Czech research group.

Gemalto has said a ‘theoretical security threat’ was revealed in 2017 and that it ‘actively worked and supported the Estonian authorities to develop and implement a remedy’. It added that ‘such threat has never materialised, not even for a single card’ and that e-passports were not affected.

Gemalto was linked by experts to millions of smart cards issued across Europe that were vulnerable to cloning and identity theft..

It was also involved in a bungled e-passport contract with the Peruvian government. The rollout in 2016 was plunged into farce after problems were reported, including typographic errors and peeling covers. Gemalto said it was part of a consortium led by French state printer Imprimerie Nationale, which manufactured the passport.

Gemalto sold one product, Sentinel LDK, which acts as a type of software product key, to several corporations.

Experts found it had at least 14 vulnerabilities, leaving owners vulnerable to the threat of hacking.

Despite issuing three profit warnings in 2017, the company’s French boss Philippe Vallee took home nearly 2.8million euros (£ 2.4million), including ‘incentive payments’ of £ 36,000.

In comparison, De La Rue’s Martin Sutherland, was paid £8 ,000 last year.