As the world becomes more technologically advanced, biometric controls are going to become one of the most safe and secure means of ensuring you are exactly who you are. Biometric controls often eliminate the need for log in details and passwords, which can ultimately be compromised by third parties looking to access your data, as well as the data you’re holding on your customers and suppliers. Today we’re here to present you with a guide to biometric controls, and put them in the context of information security so you can gain a better understanding of the best practices surrounding data protection and staying safe online.
A Guide to Biometric Controls
A Biometric Control System is a system for the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristics. Biometrics are a mixture of biological and behavioral characteristics of human that help to identify and verify the human digitally.
Some of the good examples of Biometric controls are, face scanning, digital and handwritten signatures, Eye impression scanning to open some devices, or requiring a full hand or a figure scan to unlock any secure lockers.
As per a Ping Identify Survey, 92 percent of enterprises rank biometric authentication as an “effective” or “very effective” to secure identity data stored on-premises, and 86 percent say it is effective for protecting data stored in a public cloud”.
Spiceworks reports that “62 percent of companies are already using biometric authentication, and another 24 percent plan to deploy it within the next two years,” with goes to show the usefulness and accuracy of deploying biometric controls in your organisation, too.
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A Guide to Different Types of Biometric Controls
A Biometric identifier is one the fundamental human behavior that falls under the lap of technology. They are mostly of two types: Physical and Behavioral. Physical Biometrics are mostly related to unalterable and device autonomous. Below are the some examples for the various kind of Biometrics:
DNA Matching: The identification of a human using the chemical analysis of fragments from DNA
Visual/Ear: The identification of an individual using the shape of the ear.
Eyes – Iris Recognition : The use of the features found in the iris to identify an individual.
Eyes – Retina Recognition: The use of patterns of veins in the back of the eye to accomplish recognition.
Face Recognition: The analysis of facial features or patterns for the authentication or recognition of an individuals identity.
Fingerprint Recognition: The use of the ridges and valleys found on the surface tips of a human finger to identify an individual.
Finger Geometry Recognition: The use of 3D geometry of the finger to determine identity.
GAIT: The use of an individuals walking style or gait to determine identity.
Hand Geometry Recognition: Geometric features of the hand such as the lengths of fingers and the width of the hand to identify a human .
Odour: The use of an individuals odor to determine identity.
Typing Recognition: The use of the unique characteristics of a persons typing for establishing identity.
Vein Recognition: Vein recognition identification for individuals based on the vein patterns in the human finger or palm.
Voice – Speaker Identification: This process to match the metrics of voice on speaker of human that has been stored into systems.
Voice – Speaker Authentication: The use of the voice as a method of determining the identity of a speaker for access control.
Signature Recognition: This process is for verifying the digital or handwritten signature of a human.
Biometric Control Authentication and Risks:
The security for Biometric data is highly confidential but, how we store the data is more important. The security of the passwords is essentially much important because it could hacked easily. A fingerprint or retinal scan however is unchangeable. That’s why more and more entities are attracting towards the Biometric Authentication. The release of this or other biometric information could put users at permanent risk and create significant legal exposure for the company that loses the data.
“In the event of a breach, it creates a Herculean challenge because physical attributions such as fingerprints cannot be replaced” Kon Leong
At the end of the day, every organization if carefully considers the risk of these thefts and security breach incidents can protect their credentials. a small or mid-sized company uses, say, Google’s or Apple’s authentication technology and there’s a security breach with Google or Apple, it’s likely Google or Apple will get the blame.
ISO 27001, the internationally-governed information security management system can help to protect Biometric data stored in your organization. The family of 27001 have range of international standards that covers the biometric security solutions.
The International Standard Organization programmed variety of standards for organizations considering the procurement and implementation of a biometric recognition system. It provides recommendations and guidance that such organizations can follow to demonstrate good practice in their implementation.
Moreover, these standards helps organizations to decide what modules are needed and how to maximize the chances of a successful implementation.
It also provide security to organizations in understanding their duties in respect of the use and governance of biometric data. Biometric recognition systems can be expensive to implement therefore collaboration and joint procurement should be considered between appropriate organizations.
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