Biometrics describes automated methods of establishing an identity from the unique physiological or behavioral characteristics of an individual. A distinction is often made between recognition, which effectively is a database search for the match, and authentication, where the search is whittled down by the user first giving a name or PIN to identify themselves.
Biometrics incorporate schemes for fingerprint and facial recognition, voice authentication, hand geometry, and eye iris scanning. A biometric trait is as unique as the individual from whom it was created. Unlike a password or PIN, a biometric trait cannot be lost, stolen or recreated, and this makes biometrics an obvious antidote to identity theft.
Deloitte will be setting up a UK-based unit with an international remit to develop its biometrics service line. We shall be focusing initially on government schemes and airport security, but also on physical and logical security development, said Bori Toth, who heads up the unit. She said the firm has in excess of 50 security specialists to draw on. The consulting company has already had some involvement in the biometrics arena, having been associated with the UK government’s Project Iris and a series of biometrics trials conducted by the National Physical Laboratory.
Biometrics has been proposed as an antidote to card fraud for over a decade and has been undergoing testing by many financial services providers. MasterCard began testing fingerprint biometrics 1996. JCB started a biometric authentication trial project in 2003 in Japan, by testing the usefulness of fingerprint authentication for mobile access to its online card member account inquiry service. One of the earliest adopters of biometrics has been Australia, where fingerprint scanning devices have been used by banks’ representatives to unlock ATMs to combat internal fraud since the mid-1990s.
According to analysts with ComputerWire’s parent company, the market research house Datamonitor, fingerprint biometrics works out the cheapest and the cost of implementation per unit is between $100 and $300, compared with $750 to $1,000 for eye scanning.
The demand for greater accuracy of biometric technology continues to improve as prices come down, Deloitte said, explaining the timing of its announcement. Toth said the firm would offer consulting and advisory services around the areas of database security, systems architecture, RFID and smart cards, as well as core biometrics. The company is pushing its independent stance, saying it would not, however, get involved in systems integration work around technologies that are in any way vendor-specific.
Among the biometric solutions developed especially to combat internet card fraud is electronic signature capture. It is often viewed as the most familiar and the least intrusive of other biometric identifiers. The process works by capturing handwritten samples of signatures on signature pads, where they are stored when the card is first used in the system. All subsequent transactions are then compared to the stored samples using a sophisticated method of analyzing the signature dynamics, rather than just looking at a signature image.
One of the main questions facing the implementers of biometric solutions is the readiness of consumers to accept them. In addition, by their very nature, biometric solutions are constantly evolving in terms of their technological sophistication. It therefore makes little sense to commit to significant long-term investment into one type of technology only to see the next, more advanced and cheaper alternative come along within a few years.
However, some market watchers maintain that the biometrics industry is now worth $2bn and national schemes such as the UK’s proposed Identity Card Bill is expected to add momentum to the market. Deloitte will provide guidance on biometric system selection, design, implementation, maintenance, and risk mitigation.
