U.S. Department of Homeland Security

11/15/2024 | Press release | Archived content

Advanced Anti-Counterfeit Security Elements

Sensitive documents such as banknotes, passports, visas, and birth records often contain proprietary security features to deter counterfeiters. However, these documents remain subject to fraud despite continual developments in anti-counterfeiting technologies. Adding proprietary security features to documents can increase costs, create fragile supply chains, and complicate manufacturing and quality control processes.

The suite of technologies designed by the US Department of State and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement entails methods and techniques for applying advanced design elements to sensitive documents to increase document security without requiring reliance on proprietary technology. These design strategies create a high barrier to counterfeiters and can be performed with existing high-end printing equipment and software already owned by secure document producers. DHS owns a related patent family [see Systems and Methods for Interrupting Traditional Counterfeiting Workflows] that obscure printing processes of identification documents to deter counterfeiting.

For a more detailed description download the PDF below.