The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 3, January 18, 2004, Article 10

CYBER COUNTERFEIT DETECTOR

  Adrián González Salinas. of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México
  sends a link to an interesting article about software designed
  to detect potential counterfeiting of currency.  It comes from
  Wired magazine, which notes the the features are easily
  defeated.  Here's an excerpt:

  "Anti-counterfeiting provisions in the latest version of Adobe
  Systems' flagship product have proven little more than a speed
  bump, but company representatives insist that including them
  was the right thing to do.

  Adobe acknowledged last week that its Photoshop CS digital
  editing package includes a "counterfeit deterrence system"
  designed to prevent users from accessing images of currency.

  When the counterfeit deterrence system detects an attempt to
  access a currency image, it aborts the operation, displays a
  warning message and directs the user to a website with
  information on international counterfeiting laws.

  Almost as soon as word of Photoshop's new anti-counterfeiting
  provisions started to circulate, users began finding ways around
  the system."

  "With digital counterfeiting on the rise worldwide, partly due to
  software like Photoshop, Adobe voluntarily chose to work with
  international banks to help solve the problem, said Kevin Connor,
  Adobe's director of product management for professional digital
  imaging."

  "Central banks are pushing for counterfeit protections in
  software as well as hardware. The anti-counterfeit software in
  Photoshop CS was developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit
  Deterrence Group, an organization established by the governors
  of the G-10 central banks to promote the use of anti-counterfeit
  devices in the computer industry.

  The inner workings of the counterfeit deterrence system are so
  secret that not even Adobe is privy to them. The Central Bank
  Counterfeit Deterrence Group provides the software as a black
  box without revealing its precise inner workings, Connor said."

  http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,61890,00.html

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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