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Biometrics:
Biometric devices measure physical characteristics of users and match them against the user profile. There are variants of these “what you are” devices most of which are expensive for everyday use. Biometric technology today includes:
- Retinal scanner: The device that examines the tiny blood vessels in the back of your eye. The problem here is that most users are not willing their eyes to be scanned by an unknown device.
- Fingerprint reader: This is the most famous biometric device and used for many years.
- Face recognition: With multiple cameras, even a 3D face recognition system can be built.
- Iris scanner: This is a more user-friendly device than retinal scanner since a camera several feet away can make an iris scan.
- Handprint reader: This device measures the dimensions of the hand.
- Voiceprints: The fact that voice can be recorded and might change in case of sickness is the problem in this cheap technology.
- Keystroke timing: The way in which users type is quite distinctive and can be a cheap way for biometric authentication.
Biometric authentication can be a cure for the insecurity of password based authentication however other than economic factors it has a number of limitations including:
- Biometric properties should be kept secret otherwise someone can steal the user’s profile and use it for impersonation.
- . When it is understood that biometric information is leaked, unlike password it is difficult to change the user profile (In other words, we have only 10 fingers).
- False positives (verifying others’ biometric data as if they belong to user himself) and False negatives (rejecting user’s biometric data although they belong to user in question) can sometimes be very high depending on the type and quality of the biometric technology in use and the changes in the physical characteristics of users.
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