Biometric Technology: Bringing Selfies To Cyber Security

Will Biometric Identification spell the end of passwords as we know them?
Until not so long ago passwords were the only way of making sure our online activities were safe, whether it be buying online using credit cards, or signing into social media or any other accounts. For decades, law enforcement and high security establishments had the luxury of using biometric security devices which use our unique and personal physical features to unlock the security in place. Recently biometric technology has become more readily available to us all.
Apple’s iPhone 5s is a great example of the introduction of mass-market biometric tech: the fingerprint recognition technology on the home button. It not only locks/unlocks the phone itself but it also acts as a password to confirm purchases in iTunes. However, CEO of biometrics company Bionym, Karl Martin, has some concerns. The drawback of the single fingerprint feature is that it does not require a combination of input to work. For example, most websites and social media accounts require a two-step authentication system consisting of a username and password. Fingerprints have a disadvantage in that we literally leave them everywhere and can easily be lifted.
MasterCard announced recently that instead of using a standard password online, we can soon pay with biometrics: taking a selfie! This works by downloading and installing an app to our device of choice. When purchasing online we will still need to enter our credit card details, but to complete the authentication check we will be asked to strike a pose or alternatively swipe our finger to verify our prints. In her article, Nicole Bogart does mention the need for some security measures, such as: “you will need to blink a couple of times to prove you aren’t just holding up a picture.”
Mastercard claims this new verification is more secure than conventional passwords. Other companies which already use the fingerprint technology are Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.
MasterCard conducted the first worldwide study together with International Card Services (ICS) regarding fingerprint and selfie password replacements. Nine out of 10 of the Dutch participants preferred biometric identification over conventional passwords, with 75% of users believing biometrics security to be safer. In the study, 750 cardholders were given the opportunity to pay for goods online using the selfie or fingerprint. 77% of the participants wish to continue using this new technology.
“Biometrics, unlike passwords, ensures convenience. People forget passwords, making the payment process unnecessary long and complex so we expect that passwords will slowly become obsolete in favour of a more user friendly alternative, such as biometrical identification,” says André IJbema, Manager of Risk Management at ICS.
So how has biometrics technology evolved? Fingerprints and their unique patterns were discovered in 1665 by Marcello Malpighi, and then put to use in identification processes by Dr Henry Faulds in 1880. The first use ever of a fingerprint is credited to a police officer in Argentina in 1892, who proved a murderer guilty through a bloody fingerprint found at the crime scene. This paved the way for Apple and Samsung phones as we know them today.
Facial recognition, the basis of this verification method, was first explored by Bledsoe, Wolf and Bisson in 1964. They were conducting a study of “pattern recognition intelligence (PRI)”, and this was further developed at Stanford Research Institute. The German team in 1997 from the University of Bochum developed the ZN-Face recognition system which can make facial matches using poor images, a system used in airports, banks and high security establishments. Funnily enough it is also being used, in a varied form, in the Xbox One, where Kinect Sign-In is the feature that allows users to be identified and logged in using their face.
The concept of iris recognition technology can be traced back to Ancient Egypt and Greece. The first algorithms to identify retina patterns were performed by John Daugman in 1994. The drawback to iris recognition technology is its hefty price tag, making it unsuitable for personal gadgets. This too is undergoing a massive change with technologies such as EyeLock, the new way to unlock your personal computer.
Biometric technology can provide us with ever evolving and amazing uses. The question however remains about the security of our personal data being stored and what could be done with it should it fall into the wrong hands. At least with passwords we can have different usernames linked with different passwords for specific websites, credit cards, etc. It seems that most technological advances always bring major initial concerns but that seems to be the price of our evolution. But perhaps the newer generations are less doubtful and more feature oriented.
Will you be first in line to “pay with your face”? Or are you more cautious about the security issues of biometric tech? Let us know over on Twitter @VPSNET.