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Ideco MBO finalised

The recent management buy-out of Ideco Biometric Security Solutions (Ideco) will provide new drive and direction within the field of what MD Marius Coetzee calls identity control.

Ideco MD, Marius Coetzee

In the past six years, SA has become a world leader in its use of fingerprint biometrics and is one of the biggest global markets for the technology. Ideco is South Africa’s exclusive distributor of Morpho biometrics from the diversified French technology giant, Safran.

Coetzee explains that just in terms of workplace security, over 65 000 Morpho fingerprint readers are installed across southern Africa, managing the work related identities of some 2,5 million people locally. In environments ranging from mines to retailers, Coetzee says Morpho technology has been tested, proven and chosen as a secure, reliable and convenient replacement for outmoded access cards, passwords and PINs.

To consolidate its position as the local market leader, Coetzee says the next 12 months will see the company developing new opportunities beyond its pre-eminence in the established markets of access control and workforce management. “We are seeing a much broader appreciation of the business benefits derived from identity control based on Morpho fingerprint readers.”

In terms of reinforcing corporate security, Coetzee emphasises the fact that fingerprint identification can also be used to build definitive audit chains, linking people with their activities in IT-based systems. He says, “The strength of these links provides auditing and forensic tools of unparalleled power. With biometric-based access and activity control, nobody can claim that somebody else used their password, PIN or card to make an illicit EFT payment or to steal highly sensitive corporate data.”

Coetzee also sees the growing emphasis on sound corporate governance as an additional driver for even wider adoption of biometrics: “With white-collar crime estimated to be costing SA R150 billion a year – that is the equivalent to five Gautrains – senior executives should perhaps examine the effectiveness of their identity control and consider the consequences of not being able to manage who can do what, where and when.”

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