Biometrics technology gets below the skin
Businesses and governments around the world are increasingly turning to sophisticated iris scanning biometrics systems that are more secure than traditional fingerprint based technology; the use of iris scanners is picking up steam, despite the fact that it has not been widely adopted as mainstream biometric identification technology; India and Mexico have adopted iris scanning, while Bank of America and residential communities in Japan and Korea have also installed these scanners
Businesses and governments around the world are increasingly turning to sophisticated iris scanning biometrics systems that are more secure than traditional fingerprint based technology.
John Kendall, the director of national security development at Unisys Asia-Pacific, said in a recent interview that the use of iris scanners is picking up steam, despite the fact that it has not been widely adopted as mainstream biometric identification technology.
As evidence he points to India and Mexico, which are “both using iris [scanning], with fingerprints as the secondary [identification technology].”
He says, “That’s a huge change from just two or three years ago.”
Kendall also says that Bank of America has installed an integrated facial recognition system that scans both a person’s face and iris which can identify a person as they approach, unlike fingerprint readers which require the person to remain motionless.
Facial recognition technology has already been deployed in residential communities in Japan and Korea.
Kendall also says that new biometrics technology has gotten more sophisticated as it penetrates more deeply analyzing blood vessels or tissue.
Older fingerprint readers could be easily fooled, but new “sub-dermal” technology has made these scanners harder to fool.
“Some of the new readers use multiple wavelengths of lights to go into different depths of the human skin, others use radio frequency to excite it so even if your finger is very dirty or fingerprint ‘worn’, it still works very well,” he said.
He added, “Similarly, there are cameras that can capture your face and iris at the same time. In old facial verification systems, you can hold up a picture of [an authorized person to gain access] and the system would recognize it, so with the added iris, there’s a level of complexity that cannot be easily copied.”
Looking into the future, Kendall predicts that with the cost of biometric devices rapidly decreasing, that more devices like mobile phones and computers will integrate recognition technology.
“People now store personal information in their [mobile device] so this has become the top target for scammers,” Kendall said. “With most smartphones and tablets installed with cameras, it wouldn’t be very difficult to create an app that would simply scan your iris before allowing you access.”
