Biometrics Security Essay -- Biometric Technology

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 combination 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 in"house 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 recen... ...s fingerprint. That all amounts to an unlawful search." And that is bound to make some users uneasy or even unwilling to hand over their fingerprints. Grant Evans, vice president of Identix, calls it a small problem. "The fact is Big Brother has all the information he needs on you without your fingerprints," he says. Gail Koehler, vice president of technology for Purdue Employees Credit Union in West Lafayette, Ind., was worried that members would be upset when she first deployed fingerprint scanners in her automated branch kiosks. Koehler says 12,000 members have registered their fingerprints with the credit union. "We spent the majority of our marketing dollars preparing ourselves to convince members that this was secure and not an invasion of their privacy," she says. "It was wasted dollars. We've basically had no objections. Members prefer the security."