In a time of soaring identity theft – physical and virtual – what will it take to maintain control of one’s identity and personal data? A slew of biometric authentication technologies may provide an answer.

Biometrics originates from two Greek words: bios (life) and metron (measurement). Until now, biometrics has been simply viewed as “biological statistics;” but its meaning has more recently been broadened to include the study of methods for uniquely recognizing humans based on one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits.

A biometric system can thus provide the following two functions:

• Verification – the authentication of users by using a smart card, username or ID number and comparing the biometric template captured with that stored on the registered user either on a smart card or database for verification
• Identification – the authentication of users from the biometric characteristic alone (without using smart cards, usernames or ID numbers) and comparing the biometric template to all records within the database until the closest match is returned and the individual is authenticated.

Today, biometric authentication techniques run the gamut from DNA and genetic fingerprints to finger and iris scanning to signature and automatic face recognition to voice print and retinal scanning.

Why the emergence of biometric authentication as a preferred option for verifying and protecting identity? According to an article by Mark A. Shiffrin and Avi Silberschatz in the standard.com, gone are the days when people lived in tight-knit communities and presumed everyone knew everyone else. In today’s global virtual community, people live among strangers and privacy and security have become mere illusions. Today, public acts such as making purchases or paying the toll, or private acts such as getting medical treatment or consucting financial transactions, now require authenticating identity to achieve a modicum of privacy and confidentiality.

This is where biometric authentication comes in – because the technology makes it virtually impossible to take on someone else’s identity and authentication is assured through facial or other physical recognition.

Whether it’s hospital clinicians utilizing the fingerprint as an easy-to-use authentication method when they’re in a hurry (it’s hard to leave a finger at home), or IT managers replacing passwords with fingerprint technology to enhance security and auditability and improve compliance, it seems that biometric authentication has come of age. Also, witness all these new biometric authentication-based technologies that have been cropping up:

• MyID 8 from Intercede Group – The world’s first identity and credential management system (IDCMS) was chosen by the US government to deploy over one million MyID licenses. The technology includes support for capturing facial bioetrics, fingerprints and document scanning; built-in identity verification with ID background checking and biometric verification services; and simplified physical and logical access control. The system can be used for photo ID badges, physical access to buildings, logical access to PCs and more.
• GotFACE™ 2D to 3D technology from Animetrics® – Selected by 1fashion for its virtual shopping service, GotFACE creates realistic 3D models of faces after a consumer either scans in or uploads a photograph or has one taken at an iFashion booth in a retail store. iFashion then displays a 3D virtual image of the shopper’s body and face – so the customer can see how the lcothing fits and looks on his/her virtual avatar.
• MorphoFace Investigate (MFI) System from Sagem Morpho – Recipient of a “Best Biometric Identification Technology” award, MFI is a facial recognition application that includes case evidence management, biometric matching and forensic evaluation tools for investigative and crime-solving tasks. It has the ability to work with degraded images, even those with obscured or partial faces, and still find a match.

The technology is by no means perfect. According to a post by John Halamka in geekdoctor.blogspot.com, some have found biometrics to be an immature, hard-to-support technology, challenged by false positive (granting access inappropriately)/false negative (denying acess inappropriately) issues, and held back by lack of integration with existing systems.

Nevertheless, with its proven efficacy, wide span of applications, and continuing development, biometric authentication is proving to be one of today's hottest technologies – and perhaps the wave of the future.