BIOMETRICS

ABSTRACT

Biometrics is the development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in the biological sciences. It is a new method of verifying authenticity. Biometrics uses biological traits or behavioral characteristics to identify an individual. A Biometrics system is actually a pattern recognition system that utilizes various patterns like iris patterns, retina patterns and biological traits like fingerprints, facial geometry, voice recognition and hand recognition etc. What makes Biometrics really attractive is the fact that the various security codes like the passwords and the PIN can be interchanged between people but the physiological traits can’t be.

The current applications of Biometric authentication are Entry control, ATM's and Government programs. The most obvious use of biometrics for network security is for secure workstation logons for a workstation connected to a network. The main use of Biometric network security will be to replace the current password system. The most popular biometric authentication scheme employed for the last few years has been Iris Recognition. Many companies are adding biometric authentication features to their products for e.g. Key ware Technologies LBV (Layered biometrics verification) Internet toolkit provides high-level security to e-commerce applications. This toolkit finds use in the area of Internet Banking.

There are various pros and cons to Biometrics that ought to be considered .The advantages mainly are the high levels of security it provides when compared to conventional methods, the uniqueness of biometric attributes makes them an ideal candidate authenticating users, problems associated with passwords can be avoided and that a Biometric characteristic can’t be stolen as opposed to passwords etc. The various disadvantages are the low acceptance rate, high costs associated with Biometric authentication due to the integration into the current network and the acquisition of the hardware and the software, the danger of an individual’s biometric data can be exploited and there are instances especially in voice recognition where the individual is restricted access due to a change in Biometric characteristics due to a cold etc. So, all these disadvantages have to be worked upon to ensure that this brilliant technology be incorporated into all the security systems to ensure safer transactions and restricted access to them to prevent any kind of breach of security.