Intel reveals Israel-developed facial authentication to secure financial transactions

Intel introduced on Wednesday its new on-device solution RealSense, a facial recognition tool that provides secure and accurate facial authentication. The ID can work on edge devices such as smart locks, access control, point-of-sale, and ATMs. The software, which combines active depth with a specialized neural network, was developed in Israel to be deployed worldwide.

As technology develops, traditional authentication methods are becoming easier to hack and vulnerable to ID theft or security breaches. RealSense has unique built-in anti-spoofing technology that can protect against those trying to authenticate devices using photographs, videos, or masks. According to the Israeli team, the technology provides a one-in-1-million false acceptance rate.

"Intel RealSense ID Provides a secure face recognition platform that users can trust, thanks to a combination of hardware and software built specifically for this purpose and a dedicated neural network,” explained Sagi Ben Moshe, Intel corporate vice president, and general manager of Emerging Growth and Incubation.

RealSense adapts over time, meaning that users could grow facial hair or adopt glasses and the system would still authenticate the right person. It is an opt-in service and no data leaves the device, removing any chance of cloud-based hacks. It also works in complete darkness and strong sunlight.

Intel’s announcement comes a few days before CES 2021, the largest consumer electronics conference in the world. Of course, due to the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the entire event will take place online.