inFORM Boosts Storage Capacity in Check-Secure

Published: February 14, 2006

by Alex Woodie

inFORM Decisions recently introduced a new release of Check-Secure, a hardware and software solution for preventing the unauthorized printing of checks and other sensitive documents. The solution was originally designed to accomplish this by offloading the storage of fonts and signatures to a portable memory card, which could be stored in a safe place, such as a wall safe or under the controller's pillow. (While everybody agrees iSeries are secure, for some customers, it is too much of a risk to store in one place everything needed to start a check-printing run. Remember, a good security plan is one with multiple overlapping rings.)

With Check-Secure 2.0, the Southern California company has bolstered its check security offering by substantially increasing the amount of flash memory on the Check-Secure memory cards. The Check-Secure memory has increased from 1 MB to 8 GB, according to inFORM--a very substantial increase. In fact, with so much portable storage, inFORM now recommends users store entire documents, not just fonts and signatures, on the devices. There's now enough room for hundreds of thousands of documents on Check-Secure memory cards, the company says.

inFORM has also shrunk the physical size of the Check-Secure memory card by roughly half. With version 2, the controller's dimensions are now 5 inches by 4 inches by 1.5 inches. The memory cards, which feature a rugged fire-resistant ABS plastic shell, plug into a control unit that attaches to the printer's parallel port; new versions supporting USB and Ethernet ports will be released in the future, according to the company.

The contents of the Check-Secure card--and therefore the validity of any checks generated with this solution--are controlled through a PC access program. While the product doesn't support OS/400 directly, it can be implemented as part of a solution to secure data residing on an iSeries server, including checks and forms generated with inFORM's own iDocs software. Once the desired checks and documents are printed, the memory card can be removed and stored in a safe place.

"Check-Secure is an extraordinarily easy way to keep unauthorized internal personnel from printing checks, or accessing other sensitive corporate printing jobs," says Dan Forster, president of inFORM Decisions. "It's the only solution of this type that allows user organizations to maintain their own keys, which is a big advantage when the information on the key cards needs to be changed." Check-Secure 2.0 is available now. Pricing ranges from $600 to $800.