Computer experts scoop digital fingerprinting cash

Published on Monday 10 November 2008 08:59

COMPUTER experts at Napier University have secured funding to develop digital fingerprint technology.

The university has been awarded 199,879 over two years under the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept programme to develop the "digital DNA" project through to commercialisation.

The technology will help companies and other organisations crack down on computer fraud.

Jamie Graves explored the concept of digital DNA throughout his PhD at Napier University.

He said: "What we have is effectively a timeline of user access to data. Within that, we can essentially search for sequences that relate to the activity of users in accessing the data and any changes made to it."

Mr Graves believes that the digital DNA could help play a big part in reducing overall data crime.

He added: "We've demonstrated its effectiveness in the lab and the Proof of Concept funding will allow me to prove that effectiveness in the real world." Don Smith, technical director at Edinburgh-based information security company DNS, has praised the project.

He said: "Napier's DNA fingerprint technology is certainly promising in terms of innovation and looks to have the capability of providing precisely that evidential proof of change or intrusion."