Five Places where Biometric Systems Add Convenience and Security

We’ve all seen the movies where a character provides an iris or fingerprint scan to prove their identity in order to get access into a bank vault or a secured facility. That is actually an example of a biometric system. In general, biometrics is a measure of human physiological characteristics and behavior. A biometric system could scan a person’s fingerprint, finger vein, palm vein, iris, facial profile or some other unique physical or behavioral aspect. The purpose of most biometric systems is to authenticate a person’s claimed identity.

Biometrics systems are widely considered to be more convenient and secure than other current methods of identity authentication. One of the most attractive characteristics of using biometrics for individual authentication is that you may forget your ID at home when you head out the door or lose it on your way to the office, but you always carry unique your own biometric credentials wherever you go. Imagine verifying your identity while at the grocery store just by swiping your finger across a fingerprint sensor instead of a credit card. How convenient is that?

As biometric technology evolves, there are many more ways it can be used for authentication in our everyday lives. The rapid adoption of biometric systems for individual authentication are making our day to day life not only more convenient, but also much more secure. Today I am going to share my imaginary friend Tom’s experience of howbiometric made a difference in his life.

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Iris Recognition vs. Retina Scanning – What are the Differences?

In biometrics, iris and retinal scanning are known as “ocular-based” identification technologies, meaning they rely on unique physiological characteristics of the eye to identify an individual. Even though they both share part of the eye for identification purposes, these biometric modalities are quite different in how they work. Let’s take a closer look at both and then explain the similarities and differences in detail: Retinal Scanning: The human retina is a thin tissue composed of neural cells that are located in the posterior portion of the eye. Because of the complex structure of the capillaries that supply the retina with blood, each person’s retina is unique. The network of blood vessels in the retina is so complex that even identical twins do not share a similar pattern. Although retinal patterns may be altered in cases of diabetes, glaucoma or retinal degenerative disorders, the retina typically remains unchanged from birth until death. (Source: Wikipedia) ...

Finger Vein Biometrics Identification for Membership Management Software

An article published today in the University of Vermont’s campus newspaper The Vermont Cynic reported that the campus recreation center has adopted M2SYS finger vein technology for student member identification. Tim Lewis, associate director for campus recreation made the decision to use finger vein biometrics for member identification after brainstorming ideas on how to eliminate students carrying ID cards. Happy to see our finger vein biometric identification system used at the University of Vermont through a partnership we have with Vermont Systems, a recreation and parks software provider based in Essex Junction, VT. Modern-day membership management software is designed to help create efficiencies that antiquated methods simply can’t provide. In an effort to eliminate ID cards, prevent identity fraud, and create a more convenient user experience, many membership management facilities are evaluating vascular biometrics (finger vein) for identification because of the distinct ...

Misinformation about Biometric Technology Continues to Fuel Functionality Misconceptions

Today, we came across the following blog post from Guy Huntington at Infosec Island: “What Happened to My Biometric?” In the post, the author discusses the inherent dangers of opting into a biometric identification system by providing your fingerprint and the possible negative privacy and identity theft consequences if a user does not make sure that their biometric template is deleted from the system if they leave or opt-out. Our take: While we are always pleased to see biometric technology pop up in the news or through blog postings, we often cringe when we see these types of articles that essentially do not accurately depict biometric technology, and leave readers with ill-conceived perceptions about how the technology actually works. Anyone who works in the biometric industry can attest to the fact that there is never an image of a user’s fingerprint stored. The truth of the matter is that biometric enrollment templates stored on a server are not actually an image of t...

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