11-05-2012, 04:57 PM
Biometric Scanning Technologies
[attachment=21929]
Biometics: Recent History
The word “biometrics” comes from the Greek language and is derived
from the words bio (life) and metric (to measure). This paper will refer to
biometrics as the technologies used to measure and analyze personal
characteristics, both physiological and behavioral. These characteristics include
fingerprints, voice patterns, hand measurements, irises and others, all used to
identify human characteristics and to verify identity. These biometrics or
characteristics are tightly connected to an individual and cannot be forgotten,
shared, stolen or easily hacked. These characteristics can uniquely identify a
person, replacing or supplementing traditional security methods by providing two
major improvements: personal biometrics cannot be easily stolen and an
individual does not need to memorize passwords or codes. Since biometrics can
better solve the problems of access control, fraud and theft, more and more
organizations are considering biometrics a solution to their security problems.
However, biometrics is not a panacea and has some hurdles to overcome before
gaining widespread use. This paper will discuss the recent history of biometrics,
benefits of biometrics over traditional authentication methods, some of the most
widely used biometric technologies and the issues surrounding biometrics to
include issues standing in the way of widespread biometric implementation.
Finger-Scan Technology
Fingerprinting or finger-scanning technologies is the oldest of the biometric
sciences and utilizes distinctive features of the fingerprint to identify or verify the
identity of individuals. Finger-scan technology is the most commonly deployed
biometric technology, used in a broad range of physical access and logical
access applications.7 All fingerprints have unique characteristics and patterns. A
normal fingerprint pattern is made up of lines and spaces. These lines are called
ridges while the spaces between the ridges are called valleys. It is through the
pattern of these ridges and valleys that a unique fingerprint is matched for
verification and authorization.8 These unique fingerprint traits are termed
“minutiae” and comparisons are made based on these traits. On average, a
typical live scan produces 40 “minutiae”. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) has reported that no more than 8 common minutiae can be shared by two
individuals.
Facial-Scan Technology
Another biometric scan technology is facial recognition. This technology is
considered a natural means of biometric identification since the ability to
distinguish among individual appearances is possessed by humans. Facialscan
systems can range from software-only solutions that process images
processed through existing closed-circuit television cameras to full fledged
acquisition and processing systems, including cameras, workstations, and backend
processors.23 With facial recognition technology, a digital video camera
image is used to analyze facial characteristics such as the distance between
eyes, mouth or nose. These measurements are stored in a database and used
to compare with a subject standing before a camera.24 Facial recognition
systems are usually divided into two primary groups. First there is what is
referred to as the ‘controlled scene’ group whereby the subject being tested is
located in a known environment with a minimal amount of scene variation. In this
case, a user might face the camera, standing about two feet from it.
[attachment=21929]
Biometics: Recent History
The word “biometrics” comes from the Greek language and is derived
from the words bio (life) and metric (to measure). This paper will refer to
biometrics as the technologies used to measure and analyze personal
characteristics, both physiological and behavioral. These characteristics include
fingerprints, voice patterns, hand measurements, irises and others, all used to
identify human characteristics and to verify identity. These biometrics or
characteristics are tightly connected to an individual and cannot be forgotten,
shared, stolen or easily hacked. These characteristics can uniquely identify a
person, replacing or supplementing traditional security methods by providing two
major improvements: personal biometrics cannot be easily stolen and an
individual does not need to memorize passwords or codes. Since biometrics can
better solve the problems of access control, fraud and theft, more and more
organizations are considering biometrics a solution to their security problems.
However, biometrics is not a panacea and has some hurdles to overcome before
gaining widespread use. This paper will discuss the recent history of biometrics,
benefits of biometrics over traditional authentication methods, some of the most
widely used biometric technologies and the issues surrounding biometrics to
include issues standing in the way of widespread biometric implementation.
Finger-Scan Technology
Fingerprinting or finger-scanning technologies is the oldest of the biometric
sciences and utilizes distinctive features of the fingerprint to identify or verify the
identity of individuals. Finger-scan technology is the most commonly deployed
biometric technology, used in a broad range of physical access and logical
access applications.7 All fingerprints have unique characteristics and patterns. A
normal fingerprint pattern is made up of lines and spaces. These lines are called
ridges while the spaces between the ridges are called valleys. It is through the
pattern of these ridges and valleys that a unique fingerprint is matched for
verification and authorization.8 These unique fingerprint traits are termed
“minutiae” and comparisons are made based on these traits. On average, a
typical live scan produces 40 “minutiae”. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) has reported that no more than 8 common minutiae can be shared by two
individuals.
Facial-Scan Technology
Another biometric scan technology is facial recognition. This technology is
considered a natural means of biometric identification since the ability to
distinguish among individual appearances is possessed by humans. Facialscan
systems can range from software-only solutions that process images
processed through existing closed-circuit television cameras to full fledged
acquisition and processing systems, including cameras, workstations, and backend
processors.23 With facial recognition technology, a digital video camera
image is used to analyze facial characteristics such as the distance between
eyes, mouth or nose. These measurements are stored in a database and used
to compare with a subject standing before a camera.24 Facial recognition
systems are usually divided into two primary groups. First there is what is
referred to as the ‘controlled scene’ group whereby the subject being tested is
located in a known environment with a minimal amount of scene variation. In this
case, a user might face the camera, standing about two feet from it.