Traditional authentication methods are the thing of the past now and are replaced with biometrics technology, fingerprint scanning. But with the advanced technological innovations, are they even safe? Recently, the biggest biometric data breach to date was reported in which the researchers managed to access 23-gigabyte data containing more than 27.8 million records. The data contained fingerprints, facial recognition information, unencrypted usernames and passwords and other personal information of the employees.
This data breach has highlighted the major concerns with biometric security systems for they use biometric measurements as passwords. The usernames and passwords are something that a person knows but biometrics is actually the identity of a person. Unlike passwords, the biometric data of a person can’t be changed or enhanced if stolen.
How Biometrics work:
Biometrics like fingerprints, voice patterns, facial recognition online, retina scanning data are known to be used as a way of authenticating the person and confirming if the person is who they say they are. This data of an individual very had to fake. The biometrics security systems store the biometric data of individuals in the systems and every time match the data to user-provided data at the time of authentication. But what if the data gets stolen?
The advancement of technology has created an unlimited opportunities for cybercriminals and intruders to exploit the consumers’ data by applying innovative tactics. Once someone has access to your biometric data, let’s say fingerprints, the criminals can replicate it using conductive ink that can easily fool biometric scanners. You may use, another finger but, what after 10 attempts? Not just the fingerprints, there have been multiple examples of intruders fooling voice recognition software using sound-morphing tools and face recognition systems through face photos and 3-D masks.
Given the increasing trend of data breaches and advanced spoofing measures to fool biometric systems, we can say this biometric technology doesn’t have a long-term future. Exploiting the current system, that day is not far when everyone’s data will be floating around the cyberspace. Perhaps, the biometrics can be rescued if we come up with advanced technologies and make them more secure.
AI-powered Face Verification and Liveness Detection:
Face verification solution powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms is the most effective way to make biometric technology secure. The advanced algorithms used in the development of this solution can quickly identify any fake or fraudulent attempts on the systems. Previously, the facial recognition systems were just there to identify the person by matching the face of the person. That was the reason intruders were able to fool the systems and gained access.
Digital face verification isn’t just to match the human face with the already stored data, instead, it is the shield against spoofing tactics. It ensures the remote presence of an individual during the authentication and verification processes that show the liveness of an authorised person. With the 3D-depth mapping algorithm, the individual face is checked against the depth points like contour.