Glossary

A central database in the Eurosystem area, containing all technical and statistical information on counterfeiting, both on euro banknotes and coins, whether originated in EU member states or third countries.

An image, symbol or text that is invisible to the unaided eye as well as under a microscope, but that can be visualised by a laser beam. It is formed when recording a hologram image using e-beam lithography, as a 1 micron-sized area on the hologram surface.

Covert (or hidden) features require a detector or instrument in their detection, which are usually only available to officials such as enforcement authorities and central banks.The general public and supply chain operators generally do not know about these features.

The means by which the identity of a person is authenticated in a trust framework. The credential may be physical (a document), digital (a password) or virtual (a string of digits).

A number generated by an algorithm which is then recorded in a distributed ledger linked to a digital key held by the owner. Cryptocurrencies are not issued by a government and are not backed by assets. Their value lies in their scarcity, with a limit on the quantity created.

A method of protecting information and communications through the use of codes.

The official means of payment of a state/monetary union recognised as such by monetary laws.

The use of a non-standard system of bars and spaces to encode data.

Crime committed to steal or defraud people of electronic money, or crypto-assets, online.

Protecting data and communications against attacks from (amongst other things) malware, denial of service and phishing attacks.

A papermaking machine that drains stock through a fine wire mesh cylinder rotating inside a vat of pulp stock, to form a continuous wet ply of board. This method is not customarily used for documents like tax stamps, due to the weight of the paper, and is rather used for banknote paper production. Tax stamp paper is instead produced by a Fourdrinier machine.

A mesh-covered hollow roll placed on top of a Fourdrinier papermaking machine. The dandy roll breaks up fibre clumps to improve sheet formation and can also create watermarks in paper, by pressing onto newly formed fibres. If the roll has been produced with raised elements, those elements press into the fibres leaving an impression which, when the paper is formed, allows more light to be seen relative to the thicker background paper. This is a form of watermark, albeit only 2D.

In the context of track and trace, usually refers to a barcode (primarily 2D), or a microchip carrying track and trace data in a machine-readable format.

A 2D code consisting of black and white cells or dots arranged in a square or rectangular pattern, also known as a matrix. The information to be encoded can be text or numeric data. Usual data size is from a few bytes up to 1556 bytes.

The information page in a passport containing photo and personal details such as name, date of birth, nationality and sex.

A database used to store track and trace data, for example.

Fluorescent ink that is activated by visible light, instead of the more customary UV radiation.

Creating an image or text (such as expiry and batch data) which is sunk below the level of the surrounding substrate using a die plate or punch.

An image or print that can be moved from one surface onto another, usually with the aid of heat or water.

The translation of a code into a format that is more generally understood.

The process of converting encrypted data back to its original form, often with the use of a covert key or password.

Synthetic media that have been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s likeness with that of another. Can also refer to computer-generated images of human subjects that do not exist in real life. 

A two-stage process in which metal, usually aluminium, is deposited onto a hologram or OVD and then selectively removed in order to create a design. The removal is achieved by either first printing a protective resin onto the metallic layer then dissolving away the unprotected metal, or ablating the metal with a laser beam. Used for security threads and foils in banknotes.

A chemical-gelatin mix that produces very bright images in a golden-yellow colour. The images have limited depth but can be viewed in extended light sources of poor quality. See also Volume hologram.

A hardened metal tool, the face of which carries an engraved design for cutting or shaping low-strength materials, such as fibre, foil, paper, plastics, pressure-sensitive labels and sheet metal. Dies are used to create coins from metal blanks.

The phenomenon whereby lightwaves are bent as a result of passing through small apertures or around small objects or lines whose dimensions are comparable to the light wavelength. Of particular interest are gratings (a pattern of such lines) because these have the ability to bend light of different wavelengths by different amounts. Hence, they produce a prismatic effect of splitting white light into the colours of the rainbow – a feature typical to most DOVIDs.

A collective term for images that display complex visual effects that change according to the viewing angle, based on the phenomenon of diffraction. These effects are varied and typically three-dimensional, kinetic (exhibiting movement), multichannel (where one image, or part of an image, changes into another) or animated (ie. stereograms). DOVIDs include holograms, Kinegrams and other diffractive features.

The reproduction (as in counterfeiting) of documents and packaging using digital reprographic technology.

The storage, transmission, manipulation and reproduction of data, images, sounds, etc., by a process that uses groups of electronic bits represented as 1 or 0.

A mobile app that replaces a physical driving licence. Also known as mDL (mobile driving licence).

An identification system that includes data capture, validation, storage and transfer, credential management, and identity verification and authentication.

The composite of electronically captured and stored attributes and credentials that uniquely identify a person.

Any printing technology capable of producing printed materials directly from a computer file. Digital printing does not require an intermediary medium such as film, nor an intermediary machine such as a platemaker. Non-impact printing such as laser, inkjet and dye sublimation all fall into this category.

The European Commission defines a ‘product passport’ as a product-specific dataset that can be electronically accessed via a data carrier to facilitate the electronic registration, processing, and sharing of product-related information among supply chain entities, authorities, and consumers.

A type of electronic signature that protects a document or authenticates a device by encryption with digital codes that are difficult to duplicate or decrypt.

Commonly refers to a tax stamp which carries a digitally generated and printed unique identifier.

A virtual replica of a physical object, person, or process that can be used to simulate the object’s behaviour and optimise its performance.

Can be in the form of an app, card or universal access device. It refers to a place where electronic money is held in token form.

An origination method that uses a single laser beam to create high-resolution structures on a photoresist.

A method of applying codes or information directly onto a product, without the use of a tax stamp or other label.

The process of dissolving a solid dosage form in a solvent (usually water) and measuring genuine drugs and unsophisticated copies.

Technological infrastructure and protocols that allow simultaneous access, validation, and record updating in an immutable manner across a network spread over multiple entities or locations, with no central hub. Generally associated with blockchain systems.

The unauthorised transfer of goods from one jurisdiction to another in order to bypass taxation or regulatory requirements.

Organic molecular particles based on DNA carbon compounds, either naturally occurring or synthetic. Typically used to tag documents or products for subsequent testing to prove authenticity.

A surface relief hologram built up from an array of tiny diffractive gratings arranged at certain angles. The ‘dots’ are a point at which two microscopic beams of laser light meet at an angle and produce an interference pattern. In a dot matrix machine, a mechanical arrangement moves this point of light in a matrix pattern relative to a photosensitive plate. According to the final image required, the angle at which each dot is exposed into the matrix is determined by mathematical calculation. It is thus possible to construct fully synthetic images of objects that never existed in real life.

An impact printer that uses a fixed number of pins or wires, typically arranged in one or several vertical columns. The pins strike an ink-coated ribbon and force contact between the ribbon and the paper, so that each pin makes a small dot on the paper. The combination of these dots forms a dot matrix image allowing for various types of characters and digits to be reproduced. While inkjet and laser printers technically exhibit dot matrix printing, they are not considered to be ‘dot matrix printers’. Dot matrix printers are often used for counterfeiting the serial numbers on banknotes.

Used to measure the resolution of an image both on screen and in print. DPI measures how many dots fit into a linear inch, therefore the higher the DPI, the more detail can be shown in an image.

An ink or substance which absorbs incident light at a specific wavelength and emits it at a lower energy (longer wavelength). Usually these substrates absorb ultraviolet light and emit visible light. See also Upconversion.

A digital printing technology used on production lines often to print variable data such as lot numbers and expiry dates. In contrast to continuous inkjet, DOD printers only create ink drops as needed to form the image. They tend to be faster than continuous inkjet printers.

The newest version of the datamatrix code, the most commonly used GS1-compliant 2D matrix code in pharmaceuticals.