Using behavioral biometrics for online IDs
The federal Education Act of 2008 is driving schools to crack down on ID authenticity; it says that universities offering online programs need to put strict measures in place to make sure the students registered for those courses—and possibly receiving federal financial aid—are the same students getting credit for them
A new federal law is forcing colleges and universities to implement security measures to make sure students enrolled in online classes are who they say they are, and three and a half-year-old software company outside of Dallas is lobbying to be at the forefront of this emerging market.
Biometric Signature ID (BSI) of Lewisville, Texas, has developed a patented software biometric that remotely authenticates the identities of students, enabling them to take computer-based exams at home or in testing centers.
Autumn C. Giusti writes in CR80news that there is no required hardware or software to download. The only technical requirements are a mouse and an Internet connection. Using a mouse or stylus, students are asked to draw a series of letters or shapes and click on a sequence of everyday objects to gain access to the exam.
Last summer, BSI tested its technology at the University of Maryland’s University College (UMUC). With 196,000 online course enrollments, UMUC touts itself as the largest public university in the United States.
BSI’s technology is a departure from traditional biometric systems that rely on a physical characteristic of the individual. Physical biometrics can not be changed, so if they are hacked it is gone forever, according to Jeff Maynard, president and CEO ay BSI. “We don’t collect personal identification information,” he says. “We collect a behavior.”
Driving a new market
Giusti notes that the federal Education Act of 2008 is driving schools to crack down on ID authenticity. It says that universities offering online programs need to put strict measures in place to make sure the students registered for those courses–and possibly receiving federal financial aid–are the same students getting credit for them.
The law, however, warns that institutions cannot collect personal information such as PINs and passwords when authenticating a student. “If you collect all this information and then you have a data breach, you’ve just released all this information into the market,” Maynard says.
Authentication is still unfamiliar territory for institutions, and it is left university administrators scratching their heads over how to comply with the law.
This is where firms like BSI come in. “This is really a very large market sector that is moving–having to find new solutions beyond PINs and passwords,” Maynard says. The act is creating a new demand for biometrics on college campuses.
Maynard revealed the results of the UMUC pilot at the e-Learning conference in Fort Worth, Texas in February. “We received business cards from
