Biometrics Security Essays - Biometrics, Cryptography, Security

Biometrics Security Biometrics uses personal characteristics to identify users. When it comes to security, mapping unique patterns and traits in fingerprints, irises or voices is considered light years ahead of forcing employees to memorize combinations of letters and numbers -- which are easily compromised and easily forgotten. The technology works by taking measurements -- whether it is the weight and length of bones in the hand or the pattern of blood vessels inside the eye or the pattern of fingerprints -- and then storing the specifics, often called minutiae, in a database. When a user scans a hand or retina, the new mapping is compared with the stored data. Access is either granted or denied based on matching patterns that are unique to each individual. It's that ability to identify someone based on unique physical traits that is driving biometrics into the corporate enterprise. As more high-priced transactions are conducted over the Internet, businesses increasingly need ironclad authentication of someone's identity. Add to that the increasing amount of inhouse security breaches and corporate espionage, and you'll find network and security administrators grappling for a better way to secure information from unauthorized eyes. Somebody who is doing stock trades online wants security that is amazingly accurate, says Michael Thieme, a senior consultant for International Biometric Group in Manhattan, an independent biometrics consulting and integration firm. A lot of recent security incidents are making people aware that they have a lot of data that just isn't as secure as they thought it would be. . . . If biometrics can even be a small part of that, it will be a tremendous market. Costs are dropping Until recently, the problem with biometrics has been its staggering cost. But prices have dropped by 80% to 90% in the past two to three years. A boom in research and development largely driven by an increasing need for accurate forensics has produced quality improvements and price reductions. A stand-alone fingerprint reader might have cost anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 two years ago, but now it can sell for less than $100. Analysts say fingerprint scanning is the top biometric in terms of mind and market share, with hand geometry coming in second, followed by face and iris scanning. There's a growing crop of biometrics vendors expanding the market and pushing what was once technology solely aimed at forensics and government security into the enterprise market. Companies such as Identix of Sunnyvale, Calif., Veridicom of Santa Clara and Key Tronic in Spokane, Wash., are taking biometrics corporate. And they're catching the eye of industry giants like Compaq, which is embedding fingerprint scanners into keyboards and laptops. When we first started working with Identix, going back about six years, it cost several thousand dollars for a fingerprint reader the size of a small telephone, says Joel Lisker, senior vice president of security and risk management at MasterCard International in Purchase, N.Y. The current model is embedded in the keyboard, and it's in the $5 to $10 range. MasterCard, which issues employee identification cards with smart chips embedded in them, is testing different biometric methods for everything from building access to network access. Lisker says repeat visitors to the company's headquarters were the first guinea pigs, having their images and fingerprints stored electronically for a digital match every time they returned. The credit card company also is looking into voice recognition, and earlier this year began a pilot project using fingerprints to authenticate users for network access. Lisker says the trial, involving five or six employees, is going well, and he expects to broaden it to 100 users by year-end. Eventually, I expect their employee cards will gain them access to the building, the network, specified applications, and will even be used as an electronic purse at our cafeteria and store, he says. The employee cards will be smart cards with fingerprint minutiae stored on them. We're looking at this in lieu of personal identification numbers, which are readily compromised, Lisker says. Freeing up the help desk The city of Oceanside, Calif., is well beyond the initial testing phase when it comes to using fingerprinting to authenticate users. With 90% deployment, Michael Sherwood, director of the city's IT department, says