Today’s new word, ‘steganography’ is at the heart of a new agreement aimed at combatting counterfeiting and strengthening authentication solutions.

It comes from new partners Koenig & Bauer and Graphic Security Systems Corporation, who have announced an alliance to jointly develop and deliver advanced anti-counterfeiting solutions to customers worldwide, leveraging their combined expertise.

Steganography – the art of hiding data within an ordinary design or artwork to evade detection, replication and modification – lies at the heart of modern anti-counterfeiting efforts, and is increasingly endorsed in today's climate to ensure the secure protection of high-security printed documents and products.

GSSC’s steganographic technologies are to be teamed with K&B’s press and quality control capabilities to achieve what they say will be a “dynamic and unparalleled level of protection, detection and authentication”.

Its cost-effectiveness is expected to enhance its appeal to governments and brands worldwide, while the technology itself can be integrated in almost any of their available print processes including digital.

The partners share a vision to industrialise these concepts, paving the way for new solutions in security printing, with a family of Koenig & Bauer Stegano technology solutions launched to introduce these concepts. The company says the technology is well suited for printing with a variety of processes including flexo, offset and digital.

The partnership strengthens authentication solutions portfolios for different endmarkets, with GSSC focussed on custom steganographic document security and brand protection solutions. A variety of Koenig & Bauer authentication solutions include its ‘machine vision’ system for inline, offline and online quality control.

The two companies will showcase their collaborative efforts at DRUPA 2024 (May 28 to June 6), offering attendees a look at the future of security and authentication solutions across a range of endmarkets.

Pictured (from left): Koenig & Bauer’s technology manager Marc Hunsänger and data, vision and authentication solutions vice president Julian Schubert, with GSSC’s global sales and business development vice president Dominic Painter, and technology manager Cary Quin