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Technology |
| Appraisal
Sentry |
Appraisal Sentry is an online service
for validating and authenticating an appraiser’s identity
and for ensuring the authenticity of an appraisal report. It is
a complete web based solution that does not require special or proprietary
software to be downloaded for the service to be used. It will work
with any forms-processing software that can produce a PDF. It uses
2-Factor Authentication for ensuring the identity of the appraiser
and 2-Level Security for ensuring the validity of the appraisal
report. The core technology is based on a patent-pending methodology
developed by Appraisal Matrix LLC. |
|
Identity Authentication |
| Similar to other systems, Appraisal
Sentry uses a third-party verification service to validate the identity
of the appraiser. These types of services tie into hundreds of national
databases in real time to determine the validity of the appraiser’s
identity. They first attempt to ascertain who the appraiser is with
the initial information that he or she provides – name, address,
driver’s license, etc. Then they attempt to validate that
the appraiser is who he or she claims to be by asking questions
for which only the appraiser knows the correct answer. This is what
is known as “out of wallet” information and would be
information such as the amount of the appraiser’s monthly
mortgage payment or mother’s maiden name. By validating the
appraisers’ identity as well as the validity of their appraisal
license with the ASC National Registry, there is a very high assurance
that the appraiser is who they claim to be. This information is
encrypted into an Identity Authentication file, which requires a
PIN for the information to be validated, similar to the process
of using an ATM card. But, authenticating the appraiser is not enough.
The appraiser’s identity must be connected with the appraisal
report. This is where the patent-pending technology of Appraisal
Matrix comes into play. |
| Appraisal Sentry Identification Authentication |
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Appraisal Sentry services incorporate
a high level of authentication security, referred to as 2-Factor
Authentication.
While 1-Factor Authentication is based on something that you know, such as a password, it is considered a lower level of authentication and is used in areas where the risk or consequence of fraud is low. 2-Factor Authentication, however, is based on something that you know and something that you have. For someone to impersonate you, the thief would have to know that “something” and steal that “something” that you have. This is considered to be very good authentication. An example of this is the process you go through to get money from an ATM. You insert your ATM card (something you have) and then you enter the PIN (something you know). |
Appraisal
Matrix Technology |
| Some security systems will combine
identity and appraisal data and images such as a person’s
signature into another image to produce a composite image. Unfortunately,
as we all know, it is very easy to alter an image using any one
of the thousands of image-editing programs freely available. Appraisal
Sentry uses patented technology from Appraisal Matrix to encrypt
and encode this data into a Data Matrix that is tamper proof. A
Data Matrix is a 2-D bar code that can store data in a redundant
form such that even if up to 40% of the matrix is destroyed or altered,
the original data can still be retrieved.1 |
Data Matrix
|
A data matrix is a secure, portable
database of information that can be digital or paper based. This
versatility is what makes this technology so powerful in preventing
fraud. To see this technology at work, all you have to do is look
at your mail. Every letter that has metered postage uses data matrix
technology to prevent postage fraud. In the image, the square with
all the little dots is the data matrix. That matrix of dots stores
all the information about the postage for this letter. Zip code
it was mailed from, date, amount of postage, meter machine identification,
etc. is all stored in the matrix. If you tried to commit postage
fraud by changing the postage amount, you would also have to change
the data matrix, which is next to impossible. Data matrix technology
has been applied to the appraisal industry in a similar manner.
If you want to change the value of the appraisal or the identity
of the appraiser, you have to change the data matrix. As with the
metered postage, that is next to impossible to do. This is why data
matrixes are call “secure, portable databases”. They
contain all the pertinent information about a document in a secure,
tamper-proof fashion right on the document. So if there is any question
about the authenticity of the document, it can be immediately validated
or repudiated. |
| 1. Appraisal Institute Appraisal Fraud Article |