Holograms are images registered with the use of coherent laser light, allowing the preservation of the 3D information in a holographic image. With a single source of white light, the image is “played back” and appears in 3D exactly as it was registered. The images can project deep inside, or “stick” out of the picture. Given the unique visual effects holograms provide, they are virtually impossible to counterfeit and have become a staple in anti-counterfeit technology.

Though essentially just stickers, holograms are typically extremely difficult to remove from any security document and are much more durable than normal paper-based stickers.

Recently, the United States Treasury unveiled a new $100 bill (which will begin circulation in early 2011) that contains a 3D hologram of the Liberty Bell as a defining feature of the banknote’s high-tech anti-counterfeit measures.

Banknotes, however, aren’t the only products that make use of holograms. Manufacturers who produce event tickets are among those who use the security feature the most.

With developments in colour copying and colour printing technologies making counterfeiting tickets easier over the past decade or so, holograms are a highly efficient way of preventing these forgeries.

Earlier this fall, the National Football League (NFL) warned fans of counterfeit tickets to football games, encouraging consumers to look for authenticating barcodes and holograms on any tickets purchased in “the secondary market.”

SOURCES:
EzineMark: “Hologram Sticker & Anti-Counterfeit Hologram Stickers: Protecting Your Product”
“Hologram Sticker”
Global Paper Security: “Football Season Triggers Counterfeit Warnings”

Taking a closer look at your tickets could tell you if they're fake.

Paper makers like Fortress Paper are most known in the security sector for their production of banknote paper, and rightfully so. At their mill in Landqart, Switzerland, Fortress Paper manufactures some of the world’s most high-tech and highly securitized banknotes for many countries including Switzerland.

Specializing in security features for banknotes, Fortress has become a leading international supplier of security and specialty papers. Banknotes, however, aren’t the only documents that require security devices.

The ticketing and live event industries are suffering similar setbacks as the banknote world. With colour copying technology being easier to access and easier to afford these days, ticket counterfeiting is on the rise. As a result, many event coordinators have turned to security paper makers like Fortress Paper for securitized tickets.

Called the “crime of the ‘90s” by the FBI, document fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes in the US and has taken a major toll on event tickets. Many anti-counterfeiting devices have been added to tickets in order to combat this crime spree.

From holograms to no-copy inks to thermo chromic inks, tickets are being produced with high-tech device that prevent colour copying.

One of the most popular security devices is a visible shiny varnish on the ticket that reflects light if it is copied, producing an inferior product. Another measure being used in the industry is holographic glitter embedded in a coating covering the ticket.

UV printing is also a common device employed to thwart counterfeiters, as well as foil stamping, unique barcodes and embossed logos.

Still, not everyone is jumping on the secure ticket bandwagon. This news piece from Cincinatti’s WLWT News 5 shows how easy it could be to counterfeit NFL tickets:

There are some easy ways to detect tickets you suspect may be fake. Many tickets have textured areas that feel different than other parts of the ticket and printers cannot reproduce this difference in texture. If the ticket feels like standard copy paper without any raised ink or textured differences, it may be a fake. Poorly printed tickets that smudge when you rub them is also a sure-fire indicator that your tickets aren’t the real deal.

SOURCES:
Helium.com: “Ticket Buying Advice: “Are Your Tickets Authentic?”
Allbusiness.com: “Counterfeit Tickets Growing Problem”
YouTube: “Don’t Get Caught With Counterfeit Tickets”

As this image shows, an RFID device is embedded in the passport making it "electronic"

From news of the technologically advanced New Zealand passports, to the recent multi-million dollar contract awarded to Vancouver-based Fortress Paper to produce over two million ePassports over the next five years, the shift to electronic passports is happening on a global scale.

What makes ePassports “electronic” is Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) – a small electronic device embedded in the passport consisting of a small chip and an antenna that allow passport information to be transmitted via radio signals.

Serving the same purpose as a barcode or the magnetic strip on the back of a credit card, an RFID provides a unique identifier for a passport allowing only those who scan the document – like a border guard or an airport attendant – to retrieve the confidential information it holds.

Unlike barcodes and credit cards, however, an RFID device doesn’t need to be scanned at a close proximity and requires no contact with another device.  Some high-frequency RFID devices, like those found in some US passports, can be scanned from up a distance of up to 33 feet.

ePassports contain all the same information as non-electronic passports – name, date of birth, sex, place of birth, nationality, etc – but also have the capability to include biometric information like fingerprint, facial, DNA, and iris recognition. Digital signature technology verifies the authenticity of the data stored on the chip.

As of October 2009, over 79 countries had introduced biometric passports and over 100 million ePassports had been issued globally. With over 70 million new ePassports being issued every year, it is estimated that over the next ten years, most of the 750 million passports currently in use will be replaced by electronic passports.

SOURCES:
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp Technovelgy.com: “What is RFID?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification Wikipedia: “Radio-frequency identification”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_passport#New_Zealand Wikipedia: “Biometric passport”
http://globalpapersecurity.com/fortress-paper-announces-epassport-contract-and-an-update-on-the-planned-production-increase-at-its-landqart-mill.htm Global Paper Security: “Fortress Paper Announces ePassport Contract…”

Twenty-nine people were arrested in the inter-provincial raids as a joint police force of officers from the RCMP, the Sûreté du Québec and Montreal police targeted 39 locations in Laval, Longueuil, Blainville, Toronto and Montreal.

The Globe and Mail reports “Montreal has been a hotbed for trade in fake Canadian passports” during the past decade.

The bust comes on the heels of the Canadian government’s recent decision not to beef up security on Canadian passports.

The Toronto Sun reported last week:

“A federal privacy watchdog has rejected Passport Canada’s plan to embed fingerprints and iris scans in electronic passports.

In a review of the project, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner told the passport office not to include new biometric information on a radio frequency chip encoded in e-passports.

‘The more information you collect, the more information you put at risk,’ said assistant privacy commissioner Chantal Bernier.”

Though Passport Canada is expected to start introducing electronic biometric passports – without fingerprints and iris scans – in 2011, security features on current Canadian passports are lagging behind the technological advances around in passport security worldwide.

The Canadian passport uses microprinting, holographic images, UV-Visible imaging, and watermarks to avoid fraud, but compared to New Zealand’s new passport, for example, that uses an embedded microchip containing the holder’s biometric information and digitized photograph as well as incorporates passport paper with a different design on each page, the Canadian document is much easier to reproduce.

Over 60 countries use biometric passports worldwide including the United States, Australia, Switzerland and Russia.

SOURCES:

Examiner.com: “29 Arrested in Counterfeit Crackdown”
The Globe and Mail: RCMP Busts Alleged Counterfeiting Ring
Wikipedia: “Canadian Passport”
The Toronto Sun: E-Passports won’t Include Fingerprints”
Stuff.co.nz: “Security Stepped Up in New E-Passport”

Counterfeiting, creating artificial money for financial gain and deceives others in making them believe that it is real, is as old as money itself. In the past, nations had used counterfeiting as a means of warfare, such as in the War Between the States in the USA in the mid-1800s and the Bernhard Operation in Europe during the Second World War. The idea was to overflow the enemy’s economy with fake banknotes, so that the real value of money was reduced; therefore, attacking the economy and general welfare of a society. Today, counterfeiting of currency impacts the integrity of the financial system, damaging economies and contributing to inflation that impacts the pocket books of consumers and savers worldwide.

Recent developments in photographic, printing, computer technologies, including digital image processing, high-performance colour printers and computer scanners and printers, have made the production of counterfeit money relatively easy, thereby increasing the potential threat. These new realities have driven the need for ever-improving security for the production of banknotes, and also for other secure documents such as passports, identification cards, visa labels cheques, tickets, certificates, transport documents, revenue stamps and brand labels.

The security of a banknote starts with the material upon which it is printed; a security paper possessing the characteristics that render it difficult to copy and that presents hurdles to illegal counterfeiting – a security paper that ensures authenticity. Fortress Paper’s Landqart facility offers solutions to meet these security demands. Landqart in is a leader on the development and production of security paper. Today, Fortress supplies bank note paper to more than 30 countries; including the Swiss Franc, the recognized benchmark for quality and security.

Source – Interpol