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www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/news/article.php/929651
By Don Sussis November 27, 2001 Some reasons for using biometrics now Globally, we continue the progression from small communities to large suburbs and cities, engage in international commerce, communicate with people living in far away continents as easily as those on nearby streets, transfer money electronically, have our medical and employment records stored digitally, and engage in electronic commerce. We need better ways of protecting our identities and authenticating our partners. This is especially true in ferreting out those who would do us harm. The addition of biometric features to a security program can make a difference by providing higher levels of identity authentication. What is biometric technology? In describing such attributes, we gain more certainty when the characteristics are unique (that is, sufficiently different from everyone else so as to be "special") and there is little or no variability in the same features over time (that is, they must be reliable). Biometrics literally means "life measurement," and builds on these same assumptions. The technology records patterns and uses the power of computing to compare them. The leading zones of capture for security purposes are: face, finger, hand, iris, retina, signature, and voice. Certain behaviors, such as keystroke patterns, can also be measured and used. Each of these has strengths and weaknesses. The key factors in deciding which to use include: 1) intrusiveness, 2) accuracy, 3) cost and 4) effort (to implement, maintain and upgrade systems). For example, facial recognition is relatively unintrusive and many consider it ideal for use in airports where screening can take place via hidden or direct cameras. Iris scans are intrusive but they deliver a very high level of accuracy. They are very appropriate, for example, in providing access on a nuclear submarine. Thumbprints seem ideal for low to mid-level computer security because they are easy to record, retrieve, and the cost is relatively low. There is also a burgeoning market for middleware that combines these technologies, as well as marrying them to encryption, tokens and smart cards, pin numbers and other security applications and/or devices. While no one biometric application is "fail safe," each can achieve a very high level of accuracy and certainty. All of the technologies are constantly improving while the costs are steadily declining. The automation of the process is constantly advanced by improvements in searching and routing technologies plus the steadily increasing power of computer processing. It is so much more efficient to search a database of fingerprints or photographs than it is to search for matches manually. The move to biometric-based security products is therefore, evident. This pertains to everyday tasks, such as using an ATM or purchasing products online, as it does to catching terrorists or monitoring activities of those in the criminal justice system. |
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