Bandar Seri Begawan - As the world media continues to remind us of people being cheated online, Brunei's first granted patent addressing this very important issue is suddenly on the world stage.

It was reported recently that over US$7 billion last year was lost to "Cyber Thieves" who preyed on the vulnerable people who trusted all with their financial information.

Banks and major anti-fraud consortiums have struggled to find a solution to identity theft for years.

This patent for authenticating images provides those much needed answers.

Now, suddenly, Brunei can lead the world in being behind this important technological advance.

With just this one step, Brunei's name will be associated with partnering a safe identity in cyberspace.

In describing the features of the pa-tent, he stated that in essence, a logo, brand name, icon or any form of image is coded by encryption with security information that even the hacker or thief cannot see or even know.

When the secure information is asked to be verified, another secret authentication approval or disapproval is conveyed.

If they wish to seek to decode, the window of opportunity will not be long enough, and it could take months.

The breaching or illegal tactics related to this technology up until now have allowed hackers to roam the globe at will by using the identities of others.

The technology also targets those who create fake websites, fake passports or fake driver's licences, as well as phishing e-mails and other tricks, so as to procure the public's financial details and then clean their bank accounts out.

Now after many years and patent examination all over the world, those who look for identity protection at the highest level will be able to procure rights to this unique technology

It will quickly become a proud Bruneian product marketed through the Brunei Company given the global marketing rights, Bee Guan Marketing, owned by Koh Bee Lian.

It is a patent - which it is believed in its present form and by virtue of the comments of the USA Patent Office - not in the intellectual property portfolio of companies, such as Microsoft, Google and the like.

In an interview with the Bulletin yesterday, Ron Langford, said that an announcement in January of this year by a group named DMARC, a USA consortium involving AOI, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo were looking at

Ron Langford and wife Koh Bee Lian with the patent certificate producing a protocol for e-mails and domain-based methods of authentication suggested that they were now attempting to do exactly as this technology does and which now has patent protection.

He remarked that if their process follows the steps of the patent then they may require a Bee Guan licence of use.

The company has already engaged an Australian Patent Attorney to undertake the licensing programme.

According to Langford, the patent was first granted in Australia, Singapore and the USA, and now on the anniversary of 9/11, granted in Brunei.

The USA, which applies the most stringent levels of examination when examining the application for technology protection, made a very strong comment before granting the patent when the examiner said (following four years of examination).

The closest prior art does not teach the combination of features of the claimed invention such as coding and decoding a first and second image.

Koh Bee Lian expressed delight that her husband had listened to her urging him to bring some of his technology to Brunei so as to provide the Sultanate with a very significant footprint in this important field of technology

As a proud Bruneian and with her family's 100-year history in Brunei, she said that she could not be happier for the country

Koh Bee Lian indicated that products should be available by the end of the year for licensing for the existence of physical products.

The Brunei Darussalam Patent Registry Office (PRO) officially opened its doors earlier this year to receive applications for patents and other intellectual property assets, such as trademarks and copyrights.

Koh Bee Lian became the first Bruneian citizen to file an application, accompanied by her husband Ron Langford, and receive a patent.