Securing Your Identity: How Biometrics Can Help
Biometrics aims to answer this issue by linking proof of identity to our bodies and behavior patterns. This article will explore the basics of how cybersecurity uses biometric technology. The rise of biometrics has made many cautious about their use as standalone authentication. Traditional passwords have long been a weakness for security systems.
Biometrics are biological measurements — or physical characteristics — that can be used to identify individuals. Fingerprint mapping, facial recognition, and retina scans are all forms of biometric technology. Body odors, the veins in one’s hands, and even facial contortions are other unique identifiers.
Biometrics use traits at a genetic and molecular level as well as physical and behavioral levels. How you walk, speak or type on a keyboard can indicate your identity if these patterns are tracked.
Business security can use each person’s unique biometric identity to augment password systems. Biometrics scanners are hardware used to capture biometrics for verification of identity. These scans match against a database to approve or deny access to the system. In other words, your body becomes the “key” to unlock your access.
In practice, biometric security has already seen effective use across many industries, such as banking and car manufacturing. Biometrics scanners are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Apple’s iPhone X has 30,000 infrared dots on a user’s face to authenticate their identity. Privacy advocates fear biometric security erodes personal privacy. Most big cities worldwide are linking CCTV cameras to facial recognition databases.
