Morpho (company)

Morpho
SAS
Industry Security, Identity management, Criminal justice, Border control, Banking, Telecoms, Explosives and Narcotics detection systems, Access control, Public safety, Smart card
Founded 2007
Headquarters Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Key people
 Didier Lamouche (CEO)
Products Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems, Facial recognition system, Iris recognition, Finger vein recognition, Biometric terminals, e-gates, ID cards, ePassports, SIM cards, Biometric Card Readers Speed cameras, Explosives and Narcotics detection systems
Revenue €1.5 billion (2013)
Number of employees
 8,400 (average, 2013)
Website Morpho's homepage

Morpho S.A.S. is a French multinational company, specialized in security and identity solutions. Part of Safran group until 2017, Morpho merged with Oberthur Technologies and became OT-Morpho on 31st May 2017.

History

Created in 2007, Sagem Sécurité was renamed Morpho in 2010. The name was derived from Morpho Systems S.A., a 1980s fingerprint identification firm [1] that is part of the current Morpho. By 2007, the security business was run by Sagem Défense Sécurité.

Orga Cards Systems

In 2005, Sagem Défense Sécurité acquired ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH. Renamed Sagem Orga, it is today the Business solutions division of Morpho.

GE Homeland Protection

In 2009, Safran acquired 81% of GE Homeland Protection, a wholly owned affiliate of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). It is now contained in Morpho's Detection division.

MorphoTrust

On July 26, 2011 Safran completed the acquisition of L-1 Identity Solutions.[2] Today, it is mainly part of MorphoTrust USA Inc. The company itself dates back over 50 years, from the time the first photo was added to a U.S. driver's license.

OT-Morpho

On September 2016, Safran announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Advent International, the owner of Oberthur Technologies since 2011, to sell its identity and security activities and the transaction was finalized on 31st May 2017. Oberthur Technologies (OT) and Safran Identity & Security (Morpho) were joining forces to create OT-Morpho a world leader in digital security & identification technologies with the ambition to empower citizens and consumers alike to interact, pay, connect, commute, travel and even vote safely in ways that are now possible in a connected world.

Morpho today

Today, Morpho employs over 8400 people in over 40 countries and in 85 subsidiaries worldwide, generating €1.5 billion in revenues. Dedicating 10% of annual turnover to R&D has enabled Morpho to become a leader in ID documents integrating biometrics, Automated Biometrics Identification Systems (ABIS), Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) for hold baggage.[3]

Divisions

Morpho develops security solutions and products which can be divided into five major sectors.

Biometrics

This division historically lies at the heart of the company. Morpho is active in biometrics,[4] having developed technologies based on fingerprint, vein, facial and iris recognition as Automated Biometric Identification Systems (ABIS), Finger on the Fly which was renamed MorphoWave (technology that reads fingerprints on a moving hand), e-gates, fast DNA matching tools etc. These devices are mainly employed in domains such as government identity, public security and criminal identification. Indeed, Morpho supplies government security agencies over the world, including FBI,[5] Interpol,[6] NYPD.[7] Morpho's solutions analyse biometric evidence and data to assist police forces from the crime scene to the courthouse, for instance hand-held terminals in the field to perform identity checks, facial recognition in live video streams or booking stations for enrollment at police stations.[8] They also provided secure biometric access control, focused on a series of multi-biometric access control devices, which rely on fingerprint, multi-modal (combination of finger vein and fingerprint biometrics) and facial identification techniques.[9]

Identification documents

Morpho is creating ID documents as biometric passports, ID Cards, Driver’s Licenses all over the world as in Netherlands, Albania, United States, India (Aadhaar project) etc. They help governments from initial registration and verification of citizens' identities, to issuing personalized IDs that resist fraud, to managing those identities securely both in the physical and digital world. Before acquiring L-1 Identity Solutions, Morpho had already delivered 300 million secure identity documents and today produces them at a yearly rate of over 800 million.[10]

Border control

Morpho is also a specialist in border control. It has seen the development of fully automated e-gates that read biometric data contained in travel documents and compare it with the document holder’s biometric data, for example, the MorphoWay.

Business solutions

This sector, made up in particular from the purchase of Orga Kartensysteme GmbH in 2005, specializes in smart cards. A world leader in a field traditionally based on the telecom market (SIM cards) and banks (bank cards), the division has expanded into the developing markets of online identity management and the production of identity documents (ID cards, passports, visas, driving licences and so on). Morpho’s expertise in biometric technologies synergises with this sector’s activities, as they can be integrated within its products. Each year, Morpho showcases its products and innovations in the field of smart cards and secure technologies for payment, identification and mobility at CARTES (Exhibition & Conference) in Paris.

Detection

In order to strengthen its position on the border control market, Safran bought GE Homeland Protection in 2009, which subsequently became part of Morpho Detection. This division is a producer of tomographic detection systems for illegal and dangerous substances in airplane luggage, having been awarded numerous contracts.[11] Morpho is now 'the leading supplier of explosives detection systems to the U.S. government for civil aviation security'.[12]

Research in other technologies such as X-ray Diffraction allows Morpho to produce portable devices for the detection of toxic and harmful substances. These are used by emergency responders, the military, venue security organizations and hotels to ensure the security of the general public.

Since April 2017 Morpho detection merge with Smiths groups [13]

Other activities

Morpho also produces a range of transport security solutions and products, from red light and speed limit enforcement to railway signaling equipment.[14] Furthermore, Morpho offers a set of gambling and betting terminals, which incorporate technologies and services such as secure payments, optics, wireless communication etc.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Night Stalker Case Demonstrates Effectiveness of Systems : Market Developing for Fingerprint Computers". latimes.
  2. ↑ Safran completes the acquisition of L-1 Identity Solutions Becomes world leader in biometric identity solutions
  3. ↑ "About us - Morpho". Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Morpho classified first by the NIST". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Morphotrak technology goes operational for the FBI". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Sagem Securité to provide Interpol and its 186 member states with latest Automated Fingerprint Identification System". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Morphotrak deploys Morpho biometric identification system at NYPD". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Criminal ID - Morpho". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Biometric Terminals Overview". Morpho. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "Morpho in a Nutshell (EN)" (PDF). Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Morpho Detection press releases". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Advanced Computed Tomography". Morpho.com. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Morpho's Detection Solutions". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Morpho's Transport Solutions". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Morpho's gambling and betting Solutions". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
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