2008 Pageant in ,

Customer case study

TECHNOLOGY/PRODUCTS • 23 iCLASS® RW100 Smart Card Readers • About 17,000 iCLASS Contactless Smart Cards • Custom Secure Express Holographic Overlaminate

“Counterfeit tickets have become a serious Ticket Management System Allows Only Authorized Ticket Holders into Miss problem at our exclusive event. People who Universe Competition attend the pageant illegally pose a serious security threat to the contestants as well Televised and watched by more than one billion viewers around the globe each year, an estimated as to attendees who paid for their tickets 80 women representing more than 25 countries and territories worldwide compete for the honor and have a right to be there.” of being named Miss Universe. What started as a regional bathing beauty competition in Long Beach, Calif., the contest has evolved into a powerful, year-round, international organization that Nguyen Thi Thu Anh, advances and supports opportunities for savvy, goal-oriented, women role models. Merchandising Director UniCorp With the escalating popularity of the competition that took place in July 2008 in , Vietnam, and the expected attendance of more than 18 thousand spectators, the organization’s top priority was to identify a way to avoid counterfeit tickets and ensure that unauthorized people weren’t allowed into the event. The new HID Global ticket system:

• Deterred fraudulent tickets and voucher tampering, • Implemented a secure and convenient ticket issuance and verification process, and • Protected contestants and attendees from security breaches and threats.

Challenge – Outsmarting Counterfeiters

As technology has progressed, so has the ability of counterfeiters to create fake tickets for major sporting events, concerts and other large events worldwide. To combat this persistent problem, many venues and events use special paper, inks, watermarks and printing techniques to deter counterfeiting and tampering. While these widely used methods are somewhat effective, counterfeiting still exists. “According to 2001 estimates by the PRC’s own State Council Research and Development, China was flooded with between $19-$24 billion worth of counterfeit goods.”*

The Miss Universe Organization partnered with Hoan Vu Joint Stock Company (UniCorp) to host the event and manage the day-to-day pageant details and requirements. It was imperative to UniCorp to use the most innovative and sophisticated anti-counterfeiting solution available. Not only would this combat the problem of unauthorized entry, it would also alleviate related problems, including non-approved attendees video-taping the contest for pirated viewing later.

The Solution – HID Global

UniCorp turned to its long-time security solution providers, the Vietnam Smart Card Technology Joint Stock Company (TechCard) to devise and implement an anti-counterfeiting solution based on industry-leading products from HID Global.

“We were thrilled to create a total solution for UniCorp that would alleviate the pageant’s counterfeit ticket problem,” said Nguyen Thi Thu Anh, sales manager at Vietnam Smart Card technology Joint Stock Company. “As a customer of HID for many years, we could attest to the quality of the company’s solutions. We also knew that HID’s solution portfolio would include the most innovative solutions available, which was important to UniCorp.”

TechCard quickly determined that ideal solution for the Miss Universe event was contactless smart card technology. Better than bar-codes and magnetic-based products, contactless smart cards achieve a higher security level of the credential and the overall access control system. By incorporating cryptography and encryption and leveraging the internal computing power of the chip, the risk of compromised data or duplicated cards is greatly reduced. TechCard put together a secure and affordable solution that incorporated the use of about 17,000 HID Global’s iCLASS® contactless smart cards, offering visual security and anti-counterfeiting features with holograms to quickly and easily identify genuine cards as authorized tickets.

“When we announced to Miss Universe management that we’d be using smart cards, they didn’t understand why the ticket itself needed t o incorporate smart card technology,” added Hiep Nguyen. “They quickly became enthusiasts when we explained how this would enhance security at the event, plus the counterfeit-proof tickets would also double as souvenirs for attendees.”

Implementation

“With only 10 days to print the tickets TechCard secured each smart card/ticket with layers of features. Preprinted with holograms by before we had to start selling them, we a Fargo HDP5000 card printer, a serial number – a unique identification number that included were impressed with the excellent re- the date the ticket was valid for, along with the seat number – was also printed on the card transfer printing quality and efficiency of the and registered into a database of the event management software developed by TechCard. Two robust Fargo printers; an average of printing Fargo printers worked nonstop to print about 17,000 cards in record time. two cards with all the security features in just three minutes.” Hiep Nguyen explains “With only 10 days to print the tickets before we had to start selling them, we were impressed with the excellent re-transfer printing quality and efficiency of the Thomas Hiep Nguyen, robust Fargo printers; an average of printing two cards with all the security features in just three Merchandising Director minutes.” UniCorp Exported and sent to UniCorp’s online ticket sellers, these embedded data cards further ensured that the tickets sold were not only authentic, but were tracked by seat number and purchaser.

As soon as someone purchased a ticket online, UniCorp linked a smart card to the customer’s HID GLOBAL name and sent it to them. When the customer brought their smart-card ticket to the event, it AMERICAS & was validated by one of 23 HID iCLASS RW100 Smart Card Readers. Real and authorized tickets HEADQUARTERS flashed green under the readers; fake ones (including HID iCLASS cards that didn’t have the right 15370 Barranca Pkwy embedded data) flashed red—providing an extra level of security to prevent unauthorized people Irvine, CA 92618 from gaining access to secure pageant venues. U.S.A. Phone: (800) 237-7769 Tel: +1 (949) 732-2000 Benefits Realized Fax: +1 (949) 732-2360 By using smart card technology provided by HID Global, the venue and pageant organizers were able to keep track of all the tickets and secure the event so only authorized attendees were allowed entrance. Fake and tampered tickets were easily spotted with this secure solution. HID GLOBAL Lastly, attendees received a unique souvenir to always remember the occasion. ASIA PACIFIC 19/F 625 King’s Road North Point, Island East About HID Global Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3160-9800 HID Global is the trusted, worldwide leader in providing solutions for the delivery of Secure Fax: (852) 3160-4809 Identity. The company is focused on creating customer value with product, service and know-how solutions for access and identification-related applications. Headquartered in Irvine, California, HID Global has over 1,900 employees worldwide supporting customers in more than 100 HID GLOBAL, LTD countries. HID Global is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand. EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AND AFRICA Haverhill Business Park Phoenix Road * Chow, Daniel. (2005) Intellectual Property Protection as Economic Policy: Will China Ever Enforce Haverhill, Suffolk its IP Laws? Retrieved January 18, 2009 from Congressional-Executive Commission on China CB9 7AE England Web site: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/051605/Chow.php?mode=print Phone: +44 (0) 1440 714 850 Fax: +44 (0) 1440 714 840