Biometrics Ryan Epling What Are Biometrics Automated methods

Biometrics Ryan Epling

What Are Biometrics? “Automated methods of verifying or recognizing a living person on the basis of some physiological characteristics, such as fingerprint or iris patterns, or some aspects of behavior, such as handwriting or keystroke patterns. “

Types of Biometrics l Fingerprint Recognition l Facial Recognition l Iris Recognition l Retinal Scan l Hand Geometry

Fingerprint Recognition Matches a specific fingerprint against a database of fingerprints to verify an identity. l Advantages: – Fingerprints are unique – Technology involved is reasonably priced – Commonly accepted practice – Very accurate – Difficult to reproduce l Disadvantages: – More intrusive than username/password type identification – Injuries can effect the fingerprint scanning process

Fingerprint Identification l Possible Uses: – Gaining access to a computer system – Gaining access to a secure facility – Proof of identification in the US court system – Airport Security – ATMs

Facial Recognition Takes a digital image and compares facial features against a database to identify an individual. l Advantages: – Faces are captured in public – Can be done from a distance – No physical contact necessary – Criminal Mug shots readily available l Disadvantages: – Invasion of privacy

Facial Recognition l Possible Uses: – Smart Home – Identifying African Elephants – Security at sporting events – Airport Security – To prevent voter fraud

Iris Recognition Takes a high resolution digital image of an individual’s irises, and uses pattern recognition techniques to verify the individual’s identity. l Advantages: – Internal organism, so it is well protected – Shape is more predictable – Iris texture is unique even in genetically identical individuals – Texture stays very stable over long periods of time l Disadvantages: – Incompatible with the fingerprint recognition systems that have already been invested in – Difficult to perform if the individual does not cooperate

Iris Recognition l Possible Uses: – Passports – Border control (United Arab Emirates) – CANPASS Air (pre-approved, low risk) – ATMs – Airport personnel identification

Sources l l l l l http: //www. isaca. org/Template. cfm? Section=Home&CONTENTID=2 3568&TEMPLATE=/Content. Management/Content. Display. cfm http: //www. rand. org/pubs/documented_briefings/DB 396. pdf http: //www. leidenuniv. nl/interfac/cml/pmo/students/elephind/introrec. pdf http: //www. unc. edu/~wknight/Fingerprinting/images/Fingerprint. Reade r. jpg http: //archives. cnn. com/2000/TECH/computing/07/24/iris. explainer/in dex. html http: //archives. cnn. com/2001/TECH/ptech/07/17/face. time. idg/ http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Biometrics http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Facial_recognition_system http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Iris_recognition