Your Body is the Password: Biometrics You Didn’t Know Existed
My degree and training are in cybersecurity, and I have worked as a cybersecurity professional. As a result, the term “biometrics” is part of my everyday vocabulary. If it’s not for you, if you have to stop and think about what biometrics is, you’re in the majority. You’re probably using biometrics somewhere in your life, so I thought it would be interesting to do an exploratory deep dive on the topic
We define biometrics as a measurement of some aspect of a person’s identity. We think of biometrics as fingerprint readers and facial recognition, but today you’ll learn about some factors that aren’t as widely recognized. In our phones and computers, at our borders, on some advanced time clocks, we’re using biometrics a lot – but we’ve only scratched the surface. Biometrics are evolving fast. Let’s look at some of the lesser-known biometrics in use today.
What Counts as Biometrics?
I mentioned fingerprints and facial recognition, but you may have seen voiceprint recognition in movies. Iris and Retinal scans are other methods. Iris scans measure the colored ring of the eye, and retinal scans look at the blood vessel pattern at the back of the eye. For one of my advanced technology certification exams, I had to place my entire hand on a vein-scanning surface. When I picked up my results, I used the same method to retrieve them
There are also behavioral characteristics that constitute biometrics as well. The way you type on a keyboard, you hit certain keys with more force than others, and even the angle of your fingers on the keyboard is measurable. Signing a document is more than just “do the pen strokes match up.” A signature expert can also determine that the signature is a forgery if the pressure applied at certain points didn’t match the way the real signatory did it.
Even the way you walk can be an identifying characteristic. In the movie Lonesome Dove, McCrae and Call know that Jake Spoon is somewhere close by because they recognize a particular trait of his horse’s footprint. The term for that is a gait. It can identify you as well as it can identify a horse.
There’s also a new experimental, but promising, capacity in brainwaves. By measuring neural responses to stimuli, scientists believe they can identify individuals. The uses for this type of biometrics would be in high-security environments or medical authentication.
Pros and Cons
Since these factors are highly accurate, they constitute a nearly infallible identification method. They offer exponentially more secure logins, especially when combined with another element to comprise a multi-factor scenario. It’s much more convenient to press my finger on my fingerprint reader on my computer’s keyboard than to have to type in a password or PIN.
However, there are privacy considerations, since your biometrics are exclusively yours. If you use your fingerprint to authenticate somewhere, even if you don’t use your name, it’s still only you.
It also raises accessibility concerns, such that the hardware can only accommodate the factor for which it’s designed, but a user may lack that factor – a missing finger, etc. Additionally, you can’t change your fingerprint if someone somehow lifts it and replicates it. Some organizations may be able to accommodate that situation; others may not.
We also must consider the potential bias issues in facial recognition. So far, the only real accuracy has been with European-toned skin. While that may result from a limited input library of other skin tones, it’s still a condition that limits accuracy and, therefore, usefulness. The technology and its implementation still have some milestones to meet before we can call it a universal solution.
Where Biometrics Are Headed
We might see biometrics combined for layered security, and AI may be employed in the interpretation of the results. There’s also a possibility that the intrusive surveillance systems in use today may become obsolete in favor of always-on systems for seamless security.
Your Turn
I know that after I get my nails done, having soaked my fingers in acetone for about 20 minutes, my fingerprint reader is reluctant to acknowledge that I am who I say I am. Still, it works well most of the time. But today’s replication hardware and software are making it easier to copy us. Are you concerned or hopeful about the increased use of biometrics? Let me know, and let’s chat about it.
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