The discussion around my dinner table the other night centered around a recent fraud incident that affected a good friend. A $34,000 invoice came in with instructions to make a payment on an expected business transaction. Within a few seconds, the email disappeared, and several minutes later, another email appeared. It came from the same sender and all details appeared to be the same. The payment was made.

Several weeks later, the person received a very angry phone call saying the payment was not received. Totally confused, they called the bank to verify that the payment had left the account and that the wire was received on the other side. Turns out, the first email was real and the second was a fraudulent intercept that mimicked the first one exactly except for different wire instructions. Now, their bank will not return the funds since they, as the legitimate account holder, authorized the payment.

On May 1, 1999, I began my career in the biometrics and identity industry at an unknown, fledgling company called Visionics that was promoting facial recognition in a shrink-wrapped box to allow people to log onto their PCs safely.

If you were in San Francisco last week, you would have wondered where the RSA Conference actually was. Personally, I spent a total of 90 minutes in the BioCatch booth over the course of the three days, and much more time outside Moscone Center than on the show floor. That being said, when I was at the trade show proper, there was a continuous crowd, lots of good buzz and conversation, and a palpable energy around when next generation information security will arrive.

Last week marked a watershed Election Day in America, but for those of you expecting a political analysis of what transpired, you will be sorely disappointed; for what I want to talk about is identity. Identity from an American point of view. Identity in the context of a crisis that we are facing in this country, which rears its ugly head in so many different ways.

The big booths were glitzy and crowded. One was even set up with a spaceship model overhead. Many had seating arranged for presentations and ongoing demonstrations. Coffee, candy, popcorn, all sorts of giveaways.

I attended the K(NO)W Identity Conference last week, which has emerged in the last year as the premier event for the identity industry.