30-06-2012, 04:20 PM
BIOMETRICS
BIOMETRICS1.doc (Size: 46.5 KB / Downloads: 33)
History
While biometrics did not show up in practice in Western cultures until late in the 19th century, it was being used in China by at least the 14th century. An explorer and writer by the name of Joao de Barros wrote that Chinese merchants stamped children’s palm prints and footprints on paper ink. The merchants did this as a way to distinguish young children from one another.
In the West, identification relied heavily simply upon “photographic memory” until the French police desk clerk and anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon developed the anthropometric system (later also known as Bertillonage) in 1883. This was the first precise, scientific system that was widely used to identify criminals. It turned biometrics into a field of study. It worked by precisely measuring certain lengths and widths of the head and body, as well as recording individual markings such as tattoos and scars. Bertillon’s system was widely adopted in the West until the system’s flaws became apparent – mainly problems with differing methods of measurement and changing measurements. After that, Western police forces turned to fingerprinting essentially the same system seen in China hundreds of years prior.
In recent years biometrics has moved from simply fingerprinting, to many different methods that use various physical and behavioral measurements. The uses of biometrics have also increased, from just identification to security systems and more.
Operation and performance
In a typical IT biometric system, a person registers with the system when one or more of his physical and behavioral characteristics are obtained. This information is then processed by a numerical algorithm, and entered into a database. The algorithm creates a digital representation of the obtained biometric. If the user is new to the system, he or she enrolls, which means that the digital template of the biometric is entered into the database. Each subsequent attempt to use the system, or authenticate, requires the biometric of the user to be captured again, and processed into a digital template. That template is then compared to those existing in the database to determine a match. The process of converting the acquired biometric into a digital template for comparison is completed each time the user attempts to authenticate to the system. The comparison process involves the use of a Hamming distance. This is a measurement of how similar two bit strings are. For example, two identical bit strings have a Hamming Distance of zero, while two totally dissimilar ones have a Hamming Distance of one.
Identity theft and Privacy Issues
Concerns about Identity theft through biometrics use have not been resolved. If a person's credit card number is stolen, for example, it can cause them great difficulty. If their iris scan is stolen, though, and it allows someone else to access personal information or financial accounts, the damage could be irreversible. Often, biometric technologies have been rolled out without adequate safeguards for personal information gathered about individuals.
Also, the biometric solution to identity theft is only as good as the information in the database that is used for verifying identity. Problems of getting accurate and useable initial information -- witness the current troubles with the no fly list of the Dept of Homeland security. Presumably after the initial information is correctly stored, future computer error or vandalism (hacking) would prevent biometrics from being 100% foolproof against identity theft.
BIOMETRICS1.doc (Size: 46.5 KB / Downloads: 33)
History
While biometrics did not show up in practice in Western cultures until late in the 19th century, it was being used in China by at least the 14th century. An explorer and writer by the name of Joao de Barros wrote that Chinese merchants stamped children’s palm prints and footprints on paper ink. The merchants did this as a way to distinguish young children from one another.
In the West, identification relied heavily simply upon “photographic memory” until the French police desk clerk and anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon developed the anthropometric system (later also known as Bertillonage) in 1883. This was the first precise, scientific system that was widely used to identify criminals. It turned biometrics into a field of study. It worked by precisely measuring certain lengths and widths of the head and body, as well as recording individual markings such as tattoos and scars. Bertillon’s system was widely adopted in the West until the system’s flaws became apparent – mainly problems with differing methods of measurement and changing measurements. After that, Western police forces turned to fingerprinting essentially the same system seen in China hundreds of years prior.
In recent years biometrics has moved from simply fingerprinting, to many different methods that use various physical and behavioral measurements. The uses of biometrics have also increased, from just identification to security systems and more.
Operation and performance
In a typical IT biometric system, a person registers with the system when one or more of his physical and behavioral characteristics are obtained. This information is then processed by a numerical algorithm, and entered into a database. The algorithm creates a digital representation of the obtained biometric. If the user is new to the system, he or she enrolls, which means that the digital template of the biometric is entered into the database. Each subsequent attempt to use the system, or authenticate, requires the biometric of the user to be captured again, and processed into a digital template. That template is then compared to those existing in the database to determine a match. The process of converting the acquired biometric into a digital template for comparison is completed each time the user attempts to authenticate to the system. The comparison process involves the use of a Hamming distance. This is a measurement of how similar two bit strings are. For example, two identical bit strings have a Hamming Distance of zero, while two totally dissimilar ones have a Hamming Distance of one.
Identity theft and Privacy Issues
Concerns about Identity theft through biometrics use have not been resolved. If a person's credit card number is stolen, for example, it can cause them great difficulty. If their iris scan is stolen, though, and it allows someone else to access personal information or financial accounts, the damage could be irreversible. Often, biometric technologies have been rolled out without adequate safeguards for personal information gathered about individuals.
Also, the biometric solution to identity theft is only as good as the information in the database that is used for verifying identity. Problems of getting accurate and useable initial information -- witness the current troubles with the no fly list of the Dept of Homeland security. Presumably after the initial information is correctly stored, future computer error or vandalism (hacking) would prevent biometrics from being 100% foolproof against identity theft.