Biometrics

Description

Biometrics are automated methods of recognizing a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic. Among the features measured are face, fingerprints, hand geometry, handwriting, iris, retinal, vein, and voice. Biometric technologies are becoming the foundation of an extensive array of highly secure identification and personal verification solutions. As the level of security breaches and transaction fraud increases, the need for highly secure identification and personal verification technologies is becoming apparent. Biometric-based solutions are able to provide for confidential financial transactions and personal data privacy.

Enablers:

- Advancements in science

- Advancements in technology

- Research

- Need for higher security

- Terrorism

- Hacking

- Espionage

The use of biometrics in financial institutions grows as banks worldwide strive to offer a combination of enhanced security and convenience to their customers, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Inhibitors:

• Cost

Biometric devices are more expensive to deploy than traditional access control systems such as passwords and key cards.

• Lack of Standardization

Biometric devices are still mostly proprietary and this gives way to interoperability issues. This makes it tough for large institutions such as banks to make large scale deployments user-friendly for their customers.

• Accuracy

Although the accuracy of the biometric devices has improved considerably over the last few years, there are still problems of false rejects.

• Misuse of Data

There are concerns that the personal data obtained from biometric systems could be misused. This could include identity theft where a hacker could reverse engineer biometric data when it is being transferred from a sensor to a central repository.<br\> The use of biometric information to track individuals is also a real possibility. For example: Facial recognition systems could be used to track the whereabouts of people without their knowledge.

• Physical Danger to Authorized Personnel

Robbers and other miscreants could potentially assault an authorized user to gain access to areas secured using biometric devices. In such cases, the damage caused to the user could even be irreversible. For Example: Malaysian car thieves cut the finger of Mercedes S Class owner in order to steal his car.

• Religious Objections

Certain Christians interpret biometrics to be a “Mark of the Beast.” Although such religious objections to biometrics are nor expected to be widespread, they must be taken seriously because of societal and legal emphasis on respect for sincerely held religious beliefs.

Paradigms:

Balancing the need for security versus the need for privacy and anonymity.

Web Resources:

Biometric Consortium

http://www.biometrics.org/