Thomson helps protect World Cup fans

Thomson subsidiary MediaSec Technologies GmbH, the media security company for digital imagery and printed documents, successfully helped safeguard World Cup 2006 by managing and controlling the entry of accredited persons throughout the competition. Deployed at 300 access points and 14 venues, MediaSec’s security and authentification system blocked numerous fraudulent attempts to enter venues using illicit or altered accreditation badges. World Cup 2006 marked the first time a global event organization of any kind deployed digital automated entry controls to ensure the security of guests and participants alike.
“We are now free to report that MediaSec successfully prevented counterfeiting and piracy in the same way that other Thomson technological solutions protect media and entertainment assets,” said Thomson CTO and Technology division co-head Jean-Charles Hourcade. “We are proud of MediaSec’s accomplishments on behalf of German football’s Local Organizing Committee, FIFA and World Cup fans.”

“Thanks to MediaSec’s solution, we were able to abort many illegal attempts to enter this year’s events,” said Albert Hilber, information technology project manager for the World Cup Accreditation Department. “We fully achieved our primary goal of strongly reducing illicit attendance.”

MediaSec deployed its MediaSign(R) Brand security solution to regulate the World Cup’s accreditation system, which was used by the media, service providers, team members and other participants. The company designed two image-based security features for each badge for added protection. The first mark contained MediaSec’s proprietary Copy Detection Pattern (CDP) technology, which verified a badge’s authenticity. The second was a high-capacity, two-dimensional barcode that detailed the attendance rights–the venues, dates and times–of the attendee. With the CDP, guards could determine whether the badge was an original or an illicit duplicate. Via the barcode, they could establish that the person seeking entry was at the approved location and time.

Guards used Code Corporation’s Code Reader 2.0 mobile barcode reader, which was enhanced with additional MediaSign software, to simultaneously analyze the data embedded in the two badge marks. MediaSign also double-checked the badge’s serial number against a constantly updated list of invalidated badges, providing an added feature made possible by automation.