Created last year as a spinoff of STMicroelectronics, UPEK develops fingerprint authentication technology that makes it possible to log on to a computer or your e-mail or eBay account with nothing more than a swipe of the finger across a metallic strip no larger than a fingernail. The company, which produces the software and hardware for the technology, credits its office in Prague, the only in Europe, with the software innovations that have led to much of its recent success, including a 100 percent jump in revenue last year.

The Czech connection

Led by Vladimír Lieberzeit, managing director of UPEK Czech Republic and director of research and development for software at UPEK, the Prague subsidiary draws on more than 10 years of experience. CEO Alan Kramer convinced UPEK's parent company, STMicroelectronics, to acquire the team back in 2000 and made it a part of UPEK following the spinoff in 2004.

With 30 employees, the Prague office is the technological counterpart to UPEK's main location near Berkeley, California, which specializes in hardware development. The two teams collaborate to create what Lieberzeit calls the "full solution for customers" — application software allowing users to log on and register passwords and durable, resilient hardware.

Though the phrase might sound like a PR statement, Kramer emphasizes that customers come to UPEK because it is essentially a one-stop shop. "We win these customers because we have the best hardware and software combinations," Kramer said.

The customers are getting big. UPEK, which has 80 employees worldwide, recently signed a contract to integrate its TouchStripT fingerprint authentication technology into IBM's ThinkPad Notebook series. The company wouldn't reveal the size of the contract, but it represents UPEK's first partnership with a major laptop manufacturer.

Laptop computers are the company's largest market. Lieberzeit said the technology appeals to both corporations concerned about the security and implementation of elaborate and costly internal password systems (see related story, below) and private consumers. UPEK officials reckon the market has a lot of room to grow.

Greg Goelz, vice president of marketing, predicted that within a year all the major notebook computer manufacturers will announce fingerprint authentication systems as an option. UPEK will no doubt be competing to get a piece of the action but declined to comment on whether the company had already won contracts with other major laptop manufacturers.

Applying the technology

UPEK's technology is also being used to secure flash drives — small portable hard drives often used to transmit data between computers. SanDisk Corporation put UPEK's TouchStrip into 512 megabyte and 1 gigabyte drives. Users can access both information saved on the drive and personal passwords by swiping their fingers across the strip.

"You carry your passwords with you wherever you go," Kramer said. "It takes password replacement solutions and puts [them] in your pocket."

The driver can't be hacked because fingerprint matching is done inside the flash drive, independent of the computer, and is completely portable because it doesn't rely on any external software applications, Goelz said.

The future for UPEK, which also has three offices in Asia, is bright. Kramer said that the company is looking to double its staff and that future revenues are expected to grow even faster than last year, when the company raked in $10 million (250.4 million Kč).