Biometrics is the science of identifying or recognising an individual based on unique physical characteristics such as fingerprints, eye retinal patterns, facial features, hand geometry, DNA, or voice. These features are used to automatically verify identity in security systems and to access secure networks and applications. Biometric verification is an alternative to traditional methods such as passwords and security tokens, which can be lost or forgotten.
A primary motivation for the adoption of biometrics is to improve security and reduce fraud through automatic recognition of a person. Additional benefits include convenience, scalability, cost savings, and improving physical safety.
In a typical system, sensors such as cameras or finger readers scan and analyse an individual's physical features to capture a digital representation of the person's identifier (for example, a photograph, an iris scan, a palm print, or a voice recording). This data is stored in a database for comparison with future samples. The process of capturing and storing the data is called enrolment. A variety of modalities can be used, with each requiring its own specific enrolment and scanning hardware.
After enrolment, the biometric data is matched against pre-registered templates to authenticate identity. This may be done either on a local device (for example, a mobile phone) or on a central system, depending on the type of modality and the application. A fallback process is usually needed to handle cases where the system fails to recognise an individual.
As technology advances, there are increasing concerns over the use of biometrics in cybersecurity systems. For example, hackers are developing techniques to spoof or falsify biological identifiers. This has the potential to render many existing biometric verification systems obsolete, putting users at risk of identity theft and other cyber-attacks.
Biometrics in the workplace
Biometric verification is Biometrics definition becoming increasingly commonplace, with fingerprint and iris scanners in corporate and public security systems, and face recognition on point-of-sale devices. It can also be used to verify financial transactions, as a means of guaranteeing that only authorized individuals are able to approve wire transfers or other payments.
The most important considerations in using these systems are around the accuracy and privacy of the biometrics themselves. It is crucial to assess manufacturer documentation and any published vulnerabilities of the underlying software, in order to ensure that the biometrics are properly protected. Furthermore, it is advisable to avoid relying solely on built-in biometric authentication capabilities where possible and instead to use two-factor authentication in conjunction with other security measures, such as a strong password or MDM policies.
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