Security Layer
Prohibited to copy
Central banks of 27 countries are in favour for equipping computer technique with integrated system of protection from illegal money printing
Nowadays to make a false banknote is much easier than several years ago- it is enough to get more or less modern scanner, colour printer and proper software. Banknote manufacturers keep composing new and new methods of protection year by year. The same time there is work over mastering multiplying technique to deprive swindlers of opportunity to use it not correct.
According to the data of European central bank, in 2003 about 551 000 false banknotes passed through the cashier"s desks and citizens" purses in 12 countries of eurozone, almost every tenth of them appearing in Germany. The damage, made only for German economics, the Federal bank of Germany values of3,4 million euros. For struggling counterfeiters central banks of 27 countries of the world decided by mutual efforts to promote equipping modern computers with special identifying system, able to block printing false money.
As the magazine "Spigel" informs, the group of the central banks of struggle with production of false money (Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group) consists of national banks of European countries, and Canada, the USA and Japan as well. The unity tries to motivate the manufacturers of printers, copying devices, scanners and graphic programs to build systems of protection against illegal printing money into these devices voluntarily.
The idea of the protective system "Counterfeit Deterrence System" means it to be able to recognize banknotes and to refuse copying them. According to the announcement of Canadian newspaper "Globe and Mail", the proper technology, being used while manufacturing copying devices, may be used by interested firms free of charge.
As for the way the technology , created by the firm "Digimarc", operates, Federal bank of Germany refused explaining. The representative of the bank Winfried Lampe explained just that on original banknotes there are certain distinguishing signs, which the proper devices, equipped by the protective system, can recognize and then make impossible reproduce them. The question about the fact what firms exactly integrate this protective system into their devices was not answered by Mr. Lampe either, marking only that the number of these enterprises is increasing constantly. But some famous firms are active already at promoting their products, equipped by protective technique, among them there is a printer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard. The firm Adobe, producing software for computers, also built protective technology into the newest variant of its graphic program High-End Photoshop CS and announced about it directly, but without publishing exact data about the way the system functions. The manager of the firm Kevin Connor marked only that its usage doesn"t lead to decreasing the working speed of the graphic program.
Meanwhile, in the Internet there are instructions about possibilities to outflank the protective system in the graphic program Photoshop CS already. But the representative of the federal bank of Germany Winfried Lampe accepted the information calmly. Firstly, he says, always there is anybody, trying to encroach upon the protective system, and, secondly, the technology of protection from printing false money consists of different complex components and so it will be not easy to out flank it.
Due to the materials of the site www.dw-world.de
