Biometric authentication: What method works best?

August 10th, 2019

Biometrics has long been put forth as the next big thing in authentication, replacing or supplementing the concept of things that you know like passwords, PINs and so on.

Each of the different methods of biometric identification have something which are less invasive, some can be done without the knowledge of the subject, some are very difficult to fake.

But despite lots of advances in the realm of biometric authentication, it’s clear that there’s still plenty room of improvement.

Hackers have found ways to trick and circumvent biometric authentication that relies on factors like fingerprints and facial recognition and it’s not hard to imagine that they will also find ways around more advanced authentication methods . Some experts even worry that biometrics are inherently fallible because they rely on some factors that could change throughout a person’s life.

In the end , what may prove most effective is a mixture of methods. There is no shortage of qualities that are unique to each person on the planet and which could be potentially combined to create a comprehensive picture of you that also be really hard to fake. While you may be familiar with security that employs fingerprints, voice and retinas at least a few of these biometric authentication are under development.

 Biometric face recognition technology:

Facial recognition systems has always been a concept that lived in fictional words. The technology has developed this field significantly as we are seeing it has become more common in our everyday lives.

It analyses the characteristics of a person’s face to identity or verify a person.

This technology uses distinguishable facial features such as nose width and cheekbone shape to compare a digital image to your identity. This technology is able to identify key factors within a very busy visual environment, making it very useful in picking out individuals even on crowded places.

The technology works by mapping that person’s facial features and saving this unique information as a “fingerprint”. The software can compare an image of a person’s face to the information saved in the database to confirm their identity. This type of technology is mostly used for security and data protection purposes but other uses are becoming more widespread.

Fingerprint scanner security system:

It reduces the possibility of identity theft through another employee using coworkers RFID badge or another form of identification to access secure areas.

The system verify a person’s identity to ensure they have permission to access a secure area.

It provides a reliable way to track people and don’t need to worry about storing extra data since the system only requires a fingerprint.

Fingerprint based systems provide the ability to detect an individual out of millions of fingerprints accurately.

This system can save money on hardware and material costs. It tends to consist of a simple fingerprint reader and software that identifies the individual. Most upgrades to the system come in the form of software based upgrades which reduces costs further. It also helps in reprogramming badges, assigning employee pass codes or maintaining inventory.

Retina scanner security system:

The retina is deemed to be very stable and hardly ever changes over the lifetime an individual. In this regard, it is considered to be the most reliable Biometric technology which is available in the marketplace today.

Given the small file size of the Retinal Recognition templates helps to confirm the identity of an individual is very quick and can take place in just less than two seconds.

Because of the high number of unique data points the Retina possesses , there is almost no error that when an identity of an individual is confirmed. The statistical probability of an imposter being fake accepted is almost non existent.

It is not prone to the harshness of the external environment like Hand Geometry Recognition and Fingerprint Recognition.

Voice analysis security system:

A person’s voice is one of a human being’s most unique attributes as individual as fingerprints and retinas. It is used to verify a person’s claimed identity or to identity a particular person by evaluating his or her voice . That is why voice Biometrics solutions provide powerful and convenient methods of authentication.

Voice Biometric solutions which balance strong authentication with usability provide powerful tools for preventing fraud and promoting empowerment through self service and helps organisations save money and reduce administration costs.

There’s been a sharp increase in the number of companies using voice Biometric technology in the past few years.

Voice is the only available Biometric identifier over landline.

Unlike passwords and other log in information, people can’t lose or forget their voice.

Voice Biometrics cannot be impersonated. Attempts to impersonate usually fail due to the distinctive details of the voiceprint used for comparison .

Voice Biometrics reduces the amount of time that each agent spends with each caller , creating additional overhead savings .

Voice Biometrics can enhance an organisation’s existing security methods to enable multi factor authentication by adding few more features to recognise the person.

Biometrics sensors on mobile devices all  work on the same basic principle getting users to verify their identity using unique personal physical characteristics.

With the latest technology, people can choose Biometric authentication options which includes facial recognition, fingerprint and so on. These biometric authentication technologies continue to improve with more sophisticated sensors and algorithms helping to reduce false acceptance rates and block attempts at spoofing.

On the other hand, Biometric must take into account user convenience and environmental considerations such as how quickly the user can unlock the devices and in what bade it will work effectively.

It requires controlled and accurate enrollment process and careful monitoring of security settings to ensure that the risk of unauthorized entry is low and well designed interfaces to ensure rapid acquisition and matching poor system design and implementation can slow down the authentication process and expose new vulnerabilities.

Verification of identity:

  • Non-identification:

This will check that the person who is checking is not enrolled on the system before and on database.

  • Closed-set identification:

It recognizes a person by sue in one of the characteristics which is being the closest match to a person on a master database of such characteristics.

  • Open-set identification:

This means that the person is not that who claim to be and rejecting as a fake identity or performing closed-set identification to match the characteristics.

The analyses the principle to understand the application problem for developer , user and observer.

To know more about the pros and cons of biometric technology you can refer to the link mentioned :

http://www.nutechsolution.com/pros-cons-biometrics/