LV firms offer high-tech wares during Comdex

Las Vegas was well represented in one of the hottest sectors of Comdex this week.

Biometrics, the science of using unique human characteristics as a means of identification, had its own section on the trade show floor sponsored by the International Biometrics Group.

Four Las Vegas-area companies teamed to display products they hope will someday eliminate the need to transmit credit card numbers over the Internet for e-commerce transactions.

Although encryption technology is getting better, experts feel consumers' discomfort in putting their credit card numbers in e-mails is one of the biggest roadblocks keeping online buying from its fullest potential.

By developing a system that would eliminate the need to transmit credit card numbers, the four Las Vegas entrepreneurs also discovered other security applications being sought by major corporations.

Three companies -- CompuMark LLC, biometrickey.com and All American Internet Inc. -- were at the show under the umbrella of SAC Technologies Inc., based at 4620 S. Valley View Blvd.

SAC has developed a scanner that turns the image of a fingerprint into a mathematical representation.

CompuMark is a company that represents SAC's biometric readers. Biometrickey.com is an Internet site that has been developed to market the biometric readers worldwide. All American Internet, which recently moved to Henderson from Phoenix, designs websites and is developing a number of other e-commerce applications.

John Monteleone, chief executive officer of All American Internet, said he moved his operation to Green Valley so he could be closer to SAC, which he believes to be developing technology that could have a major impact on Internet security issues.

Here's how the SAC system works: A user places his finger into a small scanner. Within seconds, the scanner maps the fingerprint and turns it into a series of numbers. The level of sophistication of the scan can be adjusted with each higher level of security. The more detailed the scan, the longer the number would be.

Joseph Girouard, marketing and public relations manager for SAC, said the technology could someday eliminate the need for passwords.

Eventually, Girouard said banks could develop a system matching credit card numbers with the mathematical representation. Only the bank would know whose number matches what credit card.

Girouard said the scanner and the software supporting it have been in research and development since 1993. Within four months, scanners and software will be ready for delivery. The scanners will cost about $100 each and Girouard expects banks to buy and give them to customers to stimulate credit card sales over the Internet.

In the future, security applications can be developed by companies that normally protect data by password.

At the Comdex show, biometric security systems were one of the highlights. A device that attracted the attention of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola was a computer mouse that includes a thumb scanner.

Computer users would have their thumbs scanned as part of the log-in process and different levels of security are allowed based on the user's biometric identity. The U-Match Biolink Mouse was on display in the same section as SAC Industries and Biolink executive Robert Rollins was astonished when Gates strolled into his booth and gave the product a thumbs-up.

In addition to developing security applications, the SAC team expects the biometric technology to evolve to enable online prescription drug purchasing authentication.

"Initially, we set out to create a next-generation e-commerce payment processing system," Monteleone said. "What we have is a revolutionary technology."

Other Las Vegas-area companies at Comdex included:

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