News in Brief

Nigerian Banks to Print National Identity Card

The Nigerian government is planning to authorise banks to issue debit cards that will double as National Identity Cards, following the failure of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to issue the cards to applicants.

Nigerian national ID card (© NIMC).

 

The move was announced by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, who said: ‘it is going to be a form of a multipurpose card where it will serve as your national identity card on one hand and also your bank card on the other hand, either Mastercard, Visa, or any other kind of card.’ 

Pantami explained that although the NIMC Act 2007 only mandates Nigerians to have a National Identity Number and not necessarily a physical card, the demand for cards is high.

‘Many citizens, particularly those living in rural communities, go to NIMC offices complaining that they need the card at hand, even though it’s optional,’ Pantami said.

‘To make it easier, NIMC last year introduced a smart ID card you can download from the NIMC app. It is just a smart card. You don’t need to have it physically, but that is becoming difficult for our people living in rural communities,’ he said.

The minister said NIMC had partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) so that citizens who are interested in having a card at hand can easily go to the relevant banks and have them printed with either Mastercard or Visa card.

The minister disclosed that NIMC and the CBN signed a nondisclosure agreement to protect the privacy and confidentiality of card applicants.

The way the proposed system will work is that when someone applies for a card, the bank will apply online to NIMC through their database. When NIMC verify and confirm that the applicant’s details are in alignment with their record in the NIMC database, the application will be approved, and the card will be printed immediately.

UK Visa Scam

UK men are being offered up to £10,000 to add their names to birth certificates – enabling a child to get UK citizenship and giving mothers a route to residency.

Scammers are using Facebook to tout for business and claim to have helped thousands of women in this way, but Facebook says such content is banned by its rules.

An investigation, by BBC Newsnight, found that the fraud is happening in different communities around the UK. It uncovered agents operating across the UK who find British men to become fake fathers.

The fake father scam is described as ‘incredibly elaborate’ by immigration lawyer Ana González. ‘It is very sophisticated, incredibly difficult to police,’ she says. ‘In a way it’s just proof of how desperate these women are and the incredible lengths they’re prepared to go through in order to secure the right to remain in the UK.’ 

If a migrant woman is in the UK illegally and gives birth to a child fathered by a British citizen or a man with indefinite leave to remain, the baby is automatically British by birth. The mother can then apply for a family visa, which will give her the right to remain in the UK – and apply for citizenship in due course. ‘This rule is to protect children, not to give visas to women who have no papers in the UK,’ says Ms González.

New Techniques to Bypass Android Phone Authentication

While technology companies press ahead with a suite of fingerprint recognition technologies, Chinese researchers have uncovered a new method of attack that can bypass user authentication on modern smartphones by brute-forcing fingerprints.

Researchers from Tencent Labs and Zhejiang University have uncovered a new method of attack, dubbed ‘BrutePrint’, which exploits two zero-day vulnerabilities called Cancel-After-Match-Fail (CAMF) and Match-After-Lock (MAL), effectively overcoming existing safeguards such as attempt limits and liveness detection.

Brute-force attacks involve systematically attempting different combinations of codes, keys, or passwords until the correct one is found.

In the case of BrutePrint, the researchers discovered that biometric data stored on the fingerprint sensors› Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) lacked adequate protection, making it susceptible to a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack that allows the interception of fingerprint images.

The researchers tested BrutePrint and the SPI MITM attacks on ten popular smartphone models, successfully achieving unlimited attempts on all Android and HarmonyOS (Huawei) devices. They were also able to make ten additional attempts on iOS devices.

To execute a BrutePrint attack, the attacker needs physical access to the target device, access to a fingerprint database (which can be acquired from academic datasets or biometric data leaks), and approximately $15 worth of equipment. Once these requirements are met, the attacker can submit unlimited fingerprint images until the user-defined fingerprint is matched.

Price Inflation for ID and Secure Documents

A recent study looks at the rising price of passports, visas and driving licences around the world.

The survey concludes that the three most expensive passport fees are Australia, where a standard adult 10-year passport will cost a citizen US$230, Mexico ($170) and Switzerland ($140), citing security measures as a possible reason for the high prices. Czech Republic ($27), Latvia ($29) and Spain ($33) are listed at the other end of the affordability scale.

The United States ($130) comes in as the fifth most expensive passport in the world.

Prices of tourist visas are also increasing, with a visit to the United States ($127), New Zealand ($106) and Australia ($90) hogging the top spots.

Work visa prices are, understandably, even higher with Colombia charging the highest average fee of $297. Mexico ($246) and Australia ($226) come in second and third place respectively for a foreign national to go to work. US$246 

The country charging the least for a work visa is Israel, with an average fee of $47. Switzerland is the country with the second lowest priced work visa with an average fee of $55. You are able to fly to Switzerland and look for work for up to six months. For the first three months, no visa is required. After the three-month period, you are able to obtain a short-term residence permit. This is valid for three months per year, providing that you have the necessary financials to support yourself.

The country charging the most for a driving licence is Turkey, with an average fee of $375, followed by Germany ($163) and then Australia ($104).