Security Layer
Money likes vigilant people
Often it is enough to look at a banknote to find a counterfeit
The magazine "Watermark" asked the deputy of the chief of security technologies department of the Association Goznak Alexander Mochalov to make any comments about the foreign initiative. Just Goznak is known to be a manufacturer of banknotes in Russia, and exactly its specialists keep working over mastering Russian ruble protection from counterfeiting.
Mentioned in the previous material idea is not new. The attempt to control the reproduction of security printing production has been done already- some years ago specialists demonstrated how it was possible to recognize the number of the copying device, using a copy.
The fact that there is a consortium of central banks over protection of just banknotes speaks of the world association"s returning to an old idea, e.g. to unite in front of the threat of total spreading digital technique. But it should be understood that first of all the point is the protection of banknote production from counterfeiters- not professionals. The matter is the supposed remedies might be a barrier just for a man, not having professional knowledge. But- and this is a subject of nervousness for some experts as the abovementioned information says- any program protection, created by a man, might be broken into and outflanked. Moreover, it"s not difficult to find variants of the programs, which are not protected by this way, to get the apparatus, not equipped by protective programs.
Now the idea may be characterized as interesting, perspective, but demanding significant funds for its serious fulfillment. At once we"ve got a question: who will pay? Are manufacturers ready to invest in a jet printer, for example, of the price of 100 dollars, the same amount of money for solving this problem? And at last, who will buy this technique?
Without denying that on the level of the association of central banks the solution of the task is of political interest, we try to take another way, defending the banknotes themselves from counterfeiting risk.
The last action of the Association Goznak in this direction is introducing new protective features while modification of banknote range. Among innovations there is possibility to define easy the authentication of a banknote by leaning it at different corners. We introduce such visual protective features, which will help an average person to check up the authentication of a banknote without any special equipment, and we consider it to be more effective and less expensive strategy of protection of national currency than introducing protective programs into multiplying technique.
Yes, today, regretfully, not all citizens of Russia know how exactly to define the authentication of a banknote. But it is another problem, necessary to be solved by making the security features of a ruble popular among people. As a positive example we can remember the campaign, carried out recently in the USA, during which almost on the every pole there were explanatory placards about protective features of a dollar.
Now it"s necessary to explain people that, while getting change at the market, they should authenticate banknotes. In the shop the situation is slightly different, risk of getting a counterfeit is less- cashiers are professionals and can hardly pass a counterfeit through to give it for change later.
As a demonstrative example of people being inattentive I can submit this case: an engraver-professional got three false banknotes in the pack of 100-ruble ones.
Among the banknotes we get for examination there are rather few banknotes, made on qualitative expensive equipment, even on a laser copying device. In general counterfeits are made with the help of computer and the simplest jet and laser printers. People should avoid mostly exactly these "school-student" counterfeits. Accessibility of digital technique and simplicity of actions create the situation when counterfeiters don"t realize about their breaking the law and got rather serious article of the Criminal code.
As for industrial counterfeiting, a ruble is so good protected that serious counterfeits, imitating original banknotes, have not been met till holding now modification of banknote range, which increases a ruble protection.
So the main is to look attentively at received banknotes: even the most qualitative copying device or a printer don"t "accept" colour-changing structures and inks and don"t imitate window thread.
Yelena Kiseleva
