Biometrics Security News and Information

Take At Look At Your Finger

Our Good ‘Ole Fingerprint

As I write constantly about, this is probably one of the most traditional ways (along with the Social Security number) for us to be identified and verified, not only in every day life, but also from the standpoint of law enforcement.  Even in Biometrics, the fingerprint is the most widely used and accepted form of technology.  And in the world of Fingerprint Recognition, the quality of the image, or the picture is what is most important.  And this, in turn, is a function of the sensor that is used.  Today, in regards with Fingerprint Recognition, there are three main types of sensor technologies used:  1)  Optical; 2) Thermal; and 3) Ultrasound. 

Of these three, it is optical which is used the most, all the way from the largest of the devices to the smallest SSO on your Smartphone.  But lately, there is a newer type that is coming out, which is known as “multispectral imaging”.  And today, I found an excellent description of it, which I wanted to share all of you. 

Here we go:  “Multispectral imaging uses multiple wavelengths of light to capture an image of both a person’s external fingerprint and their identical internal fingerprint, the foundational capillary bed. Even if the external print is damaged or obscured, multispectral fingerprinting uses the internal print data to ensure clear, clean images of anyone in any environment. High-quality images are captured by multispectral sensors even when fingerprint ridges are hard to distinguish due to genetics, age, dirt, finger placement, wetness, dryness and other environmental conditions. With multispectral imaging, the two to five percent of people with “problem fingerprints” that fail to enroll on readers with traditional technologies can enroll as easily as a young graduate student working in a clean room.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.biometricnewsportal.com/biometrics_news3.asp?articleid=266608&arttitle=Multispectral fingerprinting uses the internal print data to ensure clear, clean images of anyone in any environment). 

My Take

About 95% of the time, or even higher than that, optical technology always works very well, and can enroll/verify/identify most end users of the system.  But however, Biometrics is again, just another piece of technology, and there will be a certain percentage of the population which simply cannot have their fingerprint measured by the Biometric system.  This could be a for a whole host of reasons, ranging from environmental considerations, to the physical ailments of the end user.  As you can see from the above quote, is designed to capture the image of the fingerprint from both the outside and the inside of the finger. 

The traditional optical technology, for the most part, just takes an image of the fingerprint from the outside.  And in this regard, the environment and the finger must be clean and dry, in order to capture the best and most unique samples.  So, this is where the benefit of multispectral imaging takes place-it acts as a fail safe, because the internal image is captured as well.  In my view, the technological advancements that can be made in Fingerprint Recognition has probably reached a saturation point  from a macro standpoint.  Most of the advancements will be made in the lesser known areas, such as how to capture the best fingerprint image possible.  A key competitor to this is even Vein Pattern Recognition, where an infrared beam light is shone in order to penetrate the skin and capture the image of the vein patters. 

But, multispectral imaging also holds its business benefits as well.  Remember that old 80-20 rule, where 20% of your customers bring in 80% of your revenue???  Well, the same holds true here as well.  It is that 5% of the people who cannot be verified by optical technology which will give 95% of the headaches and hassles to the Biometrics Industry, and to Corporate America.  If you are an SEM, this will not pose too much of a problem.  But if you are Fortune 50o company, this statistic can be magnified by 10x.  Hopefully, with the dual image taking of multispectral imaging and the other advancements which come out, this statistic will be totally eliminated, and thus imposing a much lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) on Corporate America.

The World As One Family

A World Without Borders

True, this world is becoming one.  When I was back in grad school, I took a course in international marketing, and the theme of that course was a unified world.  But that theme was mirrored in the fact of a booming economy, and international trade.  Today, the world is becoming one unit in the debt crisis, pretty much all countries all experiencing here today, most notably here in the United States and Europe.  But, the world is becoming one in other respects as well, in particular the Internet.  Now, SME’s across all borders of the globe can reach customers literally tens and thousands of miles away. 

A prime example of this is my BiometricNews.net.  With the Internet, I can distribute content all across the globe with regards to Biometrics and related Security topics.  And, I can even have subscribers across the Atlantic or the Pacific Oceans.  But given this international reach we are now afforded, there obviously does come Security threats and risks, especially with regards to Identity Theft.  Now, there may be a solution to this offered by a Biometrics Vendor known as “CSIdentity”, and the offering is called the “Global ID Protector.” 

The details:  “Offering an online portal for customers to access identity alerts that can be localized by country and language, Global ID Protector addresses a pain point that many companies are facing as data breaches and occurrences of identity theft become a near statistical certainty . . . The cornerstone of the company’s global solution is CSIdentity’s proprietary CyberAgent technology. CyberAgent monitors criminal web pages, chat rooms, bulletin boards and other online forums for compromised personal information. When illegal activity is detected, such as the trading or selling of personal information, Global ID Protector will alert the customer and provide instructions on how to prevent further exposure, fraud and take action to restore their identity.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9166/). 

The details of how this solution works can be seen up above in the quote, so there is really no need to hash through all of the details of it once again.  But to my surprise, this solution is being used on a massive, global scale.  For example, it is being used by many of the Fortune 500 companies, across 47 different companies, and even 15 different languages.  Truly, a widely used solution.  To be honest, for as long as I have been writing about Biometrics and Security related topics, I think this is the probably the first time I have come across something which has such global reach.  So, I think this is what makes it unique. 

It does not matter where we come from, what culture, or what religion, all of us around the world are prone to the effects of Cybercrimes, and Identity Theft.  I really have to commend this Vendor stepping up the plate and taking advantage of this unique market opportunity.  So, where does Biometrics fit into all of this???  Well, it was not specifically mentioned, per se.  But what I can envision is a hosted solution.  Although it would have to be mandated worldwide, users of the Web and the Internet would have to have a unique identifier in Cyberspace, more than likely, their fingerprint.  All of this would be hosted in central servers, kind of like the DNS servers.  In order to use  or access any type or kind of application in Cyberspace, this Fingerprint (or perhaps any other Biometric Template, but this is easier to relate to) would have to be used. 

This would probably be one of the best ways to confirm the identity of an individual, especially if they are up to any kind of devious activity or not.  And of course, this would be great for the SME owner, especially if they are dealing with a customer overseas, many thousands of miles away.  Every SME owner obviously would like to know who they are dealing with, not just from the standpoint of providing great customer service, but also having assurances that they will get paid for services rendered.  So, in a nutshell, I am envisioning a hosted, worldwide Biometric system that can be used in conjunction with this solution described in this Posting.  Yea, I know a far fetched idea, but who knows, maybe its reality will come sooner than expected as the world continues to “become one”.

How To Make Sure You Receive Payment

The Dreams Of Business Owners

As a small business owner, we all have two dreams:  1) To provide great customer service so we can keep getting referral business and repeat business, and 2)  To receive prompt payment for services rendered.  The normal logic is that the latter will follow the former, because of such great service provided.  But, this is not always the case.  We SME business owners feel great when we receive payment via credit card or cash, because the we have it already in hand.  But what about a check??? Here, we have to go with the good faith that it is good, and payment will be in our account in just a matter of a few days.  But really, there is no guarantee in it.  A check can bounce for whatever reason.  But, there may be a way now to fully verify, to a certain degree, if the check is valid or not. 

The Security Vendor involved in this is known as the “iProlog Corporation”, and their solution is called “g.Validate.com”.  The details:  “iProlog Coporation, specializing in innovative digital security solutions, is pleased to announce the availability of gValidate.com, a free account validation and check verification service for consumers and businesses. gValidate.com provides a network that protects its members from financial harm before it happens, by providing a free centralized resource to validate financial accounts, verify payments by check and notify account holders of check activity associated with their bank accounts . . . DNA Secure checks are verifiable online and alert account holders in real time via email or SMS text messages the moment they are created until they are deposited. Members thereby achieve full control and transparency of impending check payments. Unauthorized checks can be discovered and stopped immediately, before any harm can occur to the gValidate member’s account. Members protect their accounts through gValidate account validation, which ensures authenticated control over any bank accounts members wish to validate. Bank account validation is simple and requires confirmation of a 4 to 6 digit random check number reported back to gValidate.com. Identity verification is performed through biometric feature analysis of the account holder’s authorized signature which is entered eletronically via touch screen, mouse or other common forms of digital signature entry.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9163/).

My Take

You can get the general jist of how this works from the above quote.  But keep in mind, from what I understand, this is program is primarily geared towards those people who write their own checks with the various check writing softwares available on the marketplace today.  And as the SME owner, we can enroll for free in the resources as provided by this Security Vendor to make sure at least to a certain degree, that the check writer is valid, and the check itself.  To help ensure the maximum of Security features available, members of this free service are given what is known as “DNA Secure checks”. 

With this, “ . . . DNA Secure checks provide unprecedented counterfeit protection using full color digital print personalization and the display of a prominently placed gValidate seal with verification instructions on each check’s face. The printing of DNA Secure checks is based on digital color inkjet printers, laser printers or presses with MICR ink capability and printing software utilities (for example VersaCheck X1 by VersaCheck.com) which can connect to the gValidate.com platform through the internet. Every attempt to counterfeit a DNA Secure check would need to mimick the Validation seal . . .”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9163/).  And of course, Biometrics is playing a key role here, with Signature Recognition.  The benefits to the SME owner of through the use of this Security solution are immense, and include:

*Lower payment risks;

*Less inventory, and thus, and improved flow of products and services from the wholesaler all the way down to the customer;

*Lower credit card merchant fees;

*Ease of integration with other financial software such as Quicken, Quickbooks, Peachtree, etc.

*Best of all, the service is free!!!

Of course, being a technical writer devoted exclusively to Biometrics, this is where I am going to comment on.  Of course, Signature Recognition would be the prime choice here, right???  I mean everybody has to sign a check, right???  Well, instead of using a Behavioral Biometric, why not use a Physical Based Biometric???  For example, why not Fingerprint Recognition??? 

For example, Biometrics technology is advancing at a very rapid clip, so why not come up with something which would allow for an embossed Fingerprint Recognition Template within the check itself??? 

This would probably provide one of the best ways to make sure a check writer, or the origination of a check is totally authentic, and the end resultant is that the SME owner can have some piece of mind, that if they receive a check as a form of payment, there is some guarantee, that the funds will be deposited into their respective banking account. 

The U.S. Versus The U.K.: Huge Differences

A Clash Of Cultures

We know that here in the United States, we face our own set of problems, and the current economic conditions are just compounding it even that much more.  No matter whom you ask, across whatever industry or people, there are problems.  And one particular industry with its own set of headaches is the Biometrics Industry.  One of the biggest hurdles is getting people to accept to use the systems and the technologies.  One such technology which still faces big obstacles is that of Facial Recognition.  And today, even Biometrics consultants and vendors are blasting to the United States to be more accepting of it. 

The details:  “The American studies, unveiled last Thursday (August 4th) at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, suggest that face recognition technology has now improved so much that its accuracy threatens privacy in a big way . . . However, British biometric experts OmniPerception Limited have de-bunked the research as scare-mongering and leapt to the defence of good face recognition technology, properly applied . . . American researchers Alessandro Acquisti, Ralph Gross and Fred Stutzman, all at the Carnegie Mellon University, ran a series of experiments they reported as showing that three converging technologies including face recognition are undermining the privacy that individuals ought to be able to expect on the internet . . . Dr Hefferman emphasised that face recognition technology itself does not undermine privacy, any more than people recognising each other in the street or at a party . . . Properly used, it’s absolutely non-threatening; and delivers huge benefits - improving safety and security in many areas of modern life. More secure identity management has an important part to play in fraud prevention, protection against identity theft and the defence of sensitive and vulnerable places and premises.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/articles/i/9157/). 

My Take

So, as you can see from the above quote, it’s the Americans versus the Brits on Facial Recognition.  The study conducted by the American scientists, supposedly proved that Facial Recognition, in the manner it has advanced, poses a huge threat to Privacy Rights and Civil Liberties.  But, the CEO of OmniPerception, countered back there is absolutely nothing to worry about.  In fact, he even agrees that there is a margin of error in which Facial Recognition can be misused.  What is interesting is that the CEO makes the point that recognizing faces and using that as a means of verifying and identifying people has been around for thousands of years.  So, why should people be freaked out of all of a sudden here in the United States??? 

Well, it’s just because some fancy technology is being used, with a severe lack of understanding of the technology.  And, it is this severe misunderstanding of Facial Recognition is which is causing us here in the United States to be so ambivalent about it.  And, as he points out, it is when we see people with hoods or masks, that we feel the most threatened, thus increasing our fear of Facial Recognition just that much more.  Or, as he calls it, it is this “spurious notion” which is fueling the fear of it.  So, what is my view on this???  I totally agree with the CEO.  As I keep mentioning before and even now, Biometrics is just another piece of technology.  We are only afraid of it here in the United States because we simply do not understand what the technology is all about, and the media does not help matters much either by playing upon and hyping up these fears even more. 

As the CEO also points out, there are many benefits to be gained with Facial Recognition, which include fraud prevention, reduction in Identity Theft, as well as protection of very sensitive areas (and of course there are many more as well).  But what I find most interesting is that here are two of the most advanced nations on earth, yet, they both have such differing views on Biometrics. In the United Kingdom, although I am sure there are opponents to it, people are so much more accepting of Biometrics in the public mainstream, and here in the United States, we condemn it’s every move. 

This is what I call the “Clash of Cultures”.  It is truly a unique and very puzzling observation.  But whatever it is, remember in the end, it is not the Biometrics technology itself which poses the threat to Privacy Rights, it is the misuse of it and the misunderstanding of it.  Really, in the end, Biometrics is just like an everyday computer:  Garbage in and garbage out.  If you feed negative garbage, you will just negative garbage back out.  And in the world of Biometrics, it is this negative garbage which creates the negative connotation which is associated with Biometrics.

The Security Risks Of The New Web

Web Security

As we all know, anything Internet or Web related, with regards to Security certainly gets a lot of attention.  This is because everything we do-whether it is in our daily lives, or in the work place-hinges upon the Internet, and the associated apps.  Just think about it, what would your life would be like if you had no access to the Internet-depending how much you use it, it would feel like losing an arm or even a leg.   Although there are many fancy technologies today in which you can develop an Internet or a Web application, such as ASP.Net, PHP, Cold Fusion, etc., the underlying piece of work which supports a bulk of the website is what is known as “HTM”, and in geek talk, it stands for “Hyper Text Markup Language”. 

It is not really a programming code per se, but rather more of a “scripting” kind of language.  Currently, HTML Version 4 is what is running out there, but now there is newer version coming out called Version 5.  And of course, there are the concerns of the Security vulnerabilities and threats it poses to the Internet community.  Well, a watchdog group based out of Europe, known as “ENISA” has found some 50+ Security threats associated with this HTML V. 5, and here are some of the details: 

“Banking, social networking, shopping, navigation, card payments and even managing critical infrastructures such as power networks – almost any activity you can imagine now takes place within a browser window. “The web browser is now one of the most security-critical components in our information infrastructure - an increasingly lucrative target for cyber-attackers”, comments Prof. Udo Helmbrecht, Executive Director of ENISA” . . . [these threats include]:

*Unprotected access to sensitive information

*New ways to trigger form-submission to attackers

*Problems in specifying and enforcing security policies

*Potential mismatches with Operating System permission management

*Underspecified features, potentially leading to conflicting or error-prone implementations.

*New ways to escape access control mechanisms and protection from “click-jacking” (tricking the user into clicking on dangerous links and buttons).”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9135/).

As you can see, these are all very serious threats and risks, and although they may sound simple enough, they are actually quite complex to tackle, and in fact, requires some in depth knowledge of web, database, and Cryptography programming.  Trying to address each and every of these problems is out of the scope of today’s Posting, but be assured, I will be addressing them in future Postings, and how Biometrics can play a role. 

I just wanted to bring these issues up and make you aware of them, because day by day, the world is going to place where everything will be done and accessed from what is known as “The Cloud”.  And, the primary access to The Cloud is the Web Browser, and it is here where most of the Security threats and risks reside.  And keep in mind, HTML Version 5 is still in development. 

So it is good now that all of these issues are being thought up of and addressed, rather than waiting until a ton of websites are using this new language, and the real cat and mouse game of Security really begins.

We Have No Control Over The Economy

The New Year

Well, can you believe that we are now here in August, and the year is well over half over???  Hard to believe ‘eh?  Heck, I still remember fully well  the blizzard from just six months ago.  In fact, Anita and I were already talking Thanksgiving plans.  Where has the time gone???  With the passage of time, also come predictions for the next year, and the short term future.  And of course, the Biometrics Industry is no stranger here either.  According to a recent market research called “Global Biometric Forecast to 2012”, there will be a strong demand. 

The details:  “[the]  . . . global biometric market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 23% during 2011 – 2013 . . . Among the technologies, fingerprint recognition is possibly the most widely used and familiar biometric technology. Further, biometrics is also becoming a common solution for remote transactions and e-commerce. Fingerprint is a very substantial reliable desktop solution, and it is expected that the desktop will become a driver for biometric revenue derived from transactional authentication and product sales . . . The report has also found that, technologies, such as facial recognition, fingerprint, AFIS, and Iris are anticipated to account for around 84% of the global biometric market by 2013 end. This is possible due to the growing acceptance of these technologies in various civil and commercial applications including financial sector, security, POS (Point of Sale), ATMs, border security (passports and customer ID), etc . . . Furthermore, financial services sector is set to emerge as one of the most exciting markets for biometrics vendors.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9145/i/9145/).

To me, these predictions come to no surprise.  Just about everybody who conducts market research makes claims and projections that the Biometrics Industry will see an upswing, and in the demand for products and services.  According to this report, the market demands are pretty much the same as I have written before in previous Postings.  But there are a couple of things which caught my eye. 

First, the claim is made that Facial Recognition, Iris Recognition will account for well over 80% of the market growth.  Other market research reports I have read make the claim that it will be the Hybrid, or the Multimodal Biometric Solution which will capture a lion’s share of the marketplace.  Second, the study also makes the claim that it will be Fingerprint Recognition which will be the predominant Biometric Technology.  Again, other claims are that it will be Vein Pattern Recognition which will be forerunner, as it is already picking up very quick momentum.  Third, the claim is made that it will be the financial services sector which will be the boon to the demand for Biometrics. 

I beg to differ, but statistics indicate it will be the US Federal Government, as well as other governments around the world, especially for the National ID Card and the e-Passport infrastructures.  So, what are my predictions???  Well, I think personally, the hosted Biometric solution (or what I call “Biometrics as a Service”) will see huge demand and possibly huge growth, and the main Biometric Technology which will be providing the basis for this will be the Hybrid approach.  After all, the SME owner would like to have a choice in what they pick.  But remember, all of this demand and forecasts depend upon one thing:  the macro economy.  And right now, it does not look too good.  Absent this, yea, not only will demand escalate, but so will sales and revenue.  But unfortunately, this is one variable (and albeit a huge one) that we as individuals, have no control over, whatsoever. 

It's All In The Cloud

A New “as a Service”

For those of us that are in IT, or are customers using IT related stuff (such as web hosting, virtualization, the cloud, etc.) the terms “as a Service” is fast becoming the norm.  Basically, rather than having to install your own software to run applications, you can, just with a few clicks of the mouse, install the software application from a 3^rd party.  Probably the best example of this is Exchange Server.  The Security realm of this is now occurring, and heck, I have even proposed the idea of “Biometrics as a Service”.  So instead of having to purchase all that equipment, get it all on demand.  Well, now there is a new type of “as a Service” emerging, and it is called “Identity as a Service”. 

The Security Vendor involved in this is known as “Probaris”, and here are the details: “Probaris has launched its Identity as a Service (IDaaS) offering to allow commercial enterprises, government agencies, and government affiliated parties to quickly and easily deploy PIV Interoperable (PIV-I) credential solutions. Deployment of strong authentication solutions based on the PIV and PIV-I standards are among the most effective means to protect networks, systems, and data. Recent high profile cyber attacks against defense contractors, federal agencies and financial institutions have raised the urgency to secure critical information and infrastructure . . . The Probaris IDaaS solution is powered by integration of the Probaris ID Registration Authority with card management and certificate authorities.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9137/).

My Take

As you can glean from the above quote, this type of “as a Service” is meant to fit all kinds and types of customers and applications, ranging from the Federal Government all the way down the smallest business owner.  From what it sounds like, Smart Cards will be used with this, and it can be very easily integrated into existing Security systems, without any difficulty. 

And plus, compliance with Federal Legislations and Mandates becomes just that much easier, because the hosting 3^rd party has to be compliant themselves before they can even offer these services.  Perhaps one of the biggest key benefits is that SME’ can very easily consolidate their existing identity management systems (assuming they even had one) into one centralized console.  As mentioned, deploying anything software related wise, much less an identity management system, is a huge pain in the a$$, and not only that, but it can be very costly, and require a huge amount of technical knowledge.  This is especially true if you are trying to deploy a system like this on your own, and are starting the infrastructure from ground zero.  In this regard, you would have to hire outside consultants, and this can be extremely expensive, believe me. 

And when this stuff involves such things as Public Key Infrastructure, Cryptography, Digital Certificates and the such, the complexity and the knowledge only increases by ten fold.  But, with this new solution, all of that is already done for you, and with just a few pressings of the mouse button, and perhaps about five minutes or so of your time, you can have an enterprise grade identity management system up and running, for just a fraction of the cost and expertise if this was all deployed out of the box.  This is probably one of the strongest selling points of “as a Service”.  Which are, ease of use, and control of expenses. 

I can forecast for sure that as the world continues to jump onto the “as a Service” bandwagon, just about everything in our daily lives will be built around this managed services model.  It only makes sense.  I mean, why expend the effort to do something which can prove to be very difficult to do, when somebody else can do it, and they to all of the upkeep and maintenance of the hardware and the software for just a flat monthly fee (of course, add ons, will make things cost a lot more)???  This will be the biggest trend in IT to come for a long time.  I just wonder what the next “as a Service” will be . . .

Open And Honest Communications

Sports and Biometrics

These days, at sporting event venues, increased levels of Security is fast becoming the norm.  So, it no surprise that Biometrics is once being used here as well.  In fact, I have written about the use of Biometrics for this application, from a wide range of geographic locations such as South Africa and the United Kingdom.  Today, we see this application being used in a neighbor of the UK, which is Scotland.  The Biometrics Vendor is known as “levo Ltd.” 

Here are some specifics:  “Under the representation of Stag Security, Ievo Ltd has been chosen as the biometric supplier to the Scottish National Arena, which will host the Commonwealth Games. The £112 million project with Bovis Lend Lease will be at the hub of public events, concerts, conferences and as aforementioned the commonwealth Games’ Gymnastics and Netball in the future . . . The Ievo fingerprint readers’ main job is to protect the site parameters as well as to record time and attendance of the construction workers. Unlike most fingerprint access control systems on the market today that would not function on a construction site, Ievo has the technology necessary to combat this. This is because the Ievo reader uses a multi-spectral imaging sensor that penetrates through some types of gloves, oils, dirt and grease on hands . . . Therefore, throughout the seasonal calendar, Ievo’s biometric readers are fully functional.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9113/).

My Take

It comes to no surprise to me that Fingerprint Recognition is being used as the primary tool in this application.  After all, it is easy to use and implement, and given the recent advances I discussed in last week’s Postings, even more robust fingerprint images can be taken, given the use of multispectral imaging, which is being used here as well.  And, as you can see from the above quote, the primary application for this Biometrics solution is for Time and Attendance, in order to keep accurate time worked, proper payroll is calculated, and that there is no buddy punching involved here. 

But, as I write this Posting, a thought comes to my mind.  And that is, how is the public going to perceive the use of Biometrics at sporting venues?  Granted, this application discussed here is mostly for the on site construction workers, but in general, this is an increased use of Biometrics at these sporting venues.  To many people, enjoying a sporting event of their favorite venue is great way to spend the weekend, or to spend a vacation.  The last thing they want to be concerned is that of privacy rights and if they are being watched or not, covertly.  While I fully support the use of Biometrics at these venues, (I mean these are places packed with people-and are obviously a prime choice for a terrorist attack), I am afraid that there could be a decline over time in attendance, once the public knows, that Biometrics is being used for Security.  But, a subtle difference should be made here. 

I am talking about a decline in attendance if the public is not fully informed ahead of time that their, face, iris, or fingerprint is going to be captured.  In this fashion, the public will fear that law enforcement and the respective government is keeping tabs on them, in a covert manner.  But what I am talking about is that the public should be informed well ahead of time that Biometrics is being used.  As a result, the acceptance of Biometrics should be higher, since the public had advanced notice of Biometrics, there should not be too much of fear instilled (and also assuming there are other Security alternatives in place, should a person choose not to use a Biometric system). 

There was a classic example of this way back when.  Earlier in the past decade, Facial Recognition was being used to keep tabs on people attending a football game.  There was no advanced warning of this, and there was a huge backlash experienced.  So, the lesson to be learned here for the Biometrics Industry is this:  Keep open and honest communications with everybody who deals with Biometrics.  It will pay huge dividends in the end, as this simple motto holds so true for other facets of life as well.

The Future Of Online Education

The Future

Well, last nite, my future fiancé Anita and I were talking about our plans for the future, for after we get married.  True, there is the talk of having a family (two kids), but for the time after we get married, we just want to enjoy each others company.  I will continue as a technical writer, and for Anita, she wants to go to graduate school.  We talked about the numerous options she has in this regard, and I even suggested about online courses, and getting her advanced degree that way.  We are still trying to figure out all of the details on this.  But anyways, it is with this in mind I came across a Press Release which mentions about online learning, and using Biometrics. 

Here are the details:  “Biometric Signature ID, Inc. (BSI) announced today that the patented BioSig-ID signature gesture biometric technology for identity authentication was selected by Pearson eCollege, as a technology partner for it’s LearningStudio online learning platform to verify student identity during the academic administration of the course and exams. BSI is the only software company with this patented technology that exceeds governmental requirements and accuracy ratings in the $12.6B Identity and Access Management (IAM) authentication market . . . BSI’s Identity Management software does not require any additional hardware or software downloads, can be used on any PC anywhere, anytime, does not collect personal identifying information, and tracks and reports all interactions. The cost for this technology is capped per student, thereby saving students money on additional examination proctoring fees, which was also a benefit for keeping the cost of education manageable for the students.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9125/). 

I have written about this Biometrics Vendor, Biometric Signature ID, Inc., before, so there is no need to rehash all of the technical details of their Biometric Solution.  But basically put, it involves the use of a newer kind of Biometric Technology, known as “Gesture Recognition”.  Essentially, this confirms the identity of an individual by the general gestures they make by their bodily movements.  Given the changing times, and especially given the current economic climate, online education and getting a degree that way (whether it is advanced, or an undergraduate) will be the way for people to go.  In fact, I have many friends who are now taking this approach. 

The costs of college and graduate school are greatly escalating year after year, and especially the level of competition is getting even steeper.  So, online education only makes sense.  Get your degree in the comforts of your own home and PJ’s.  Who can beat that???  I would love that.  But given the trend in the demand for online education, so will come the greater need for Security, especially when it comes to verifying and identifying individuals.  This is so because learning and exam taking will be taking place in a virtual blackhole, where nobody will see anybody physically.  So how will you know if Sally is taking the exam she is supposed to take versus her taking an exam for John, who would get the credit??? 

True, there will always be the malicious attempt, but things can also happen by mistake in the virtual world.  Heck, it has even happened to me before.  So, in this regard, Biometrics is the answer (but not the complete one, other means of verifying and identifying individuals should be used in conjunction with Biometrics as well).  For the world of online education, Fingerprint Recognition has been the choice.  But now, it seems like that Gesture Recognition could become the de facto standard.  As the statistics have demonstrated, there will be some 25 million students in the online world by 2015.  Thus, the need to positively confirm the identity of students will become even more paramount. 

Added on top of this are all of the Federal Government Legislations and Mandates which require the utmost levels of Security when it comes to positively identifying students and protecting this privacy.  So why not make life simple and take a proactive approach now, by using Biometrics to its fullest potential??? It only makes sense to me, and a common one to that also.  The benefits to the online education world will be great:  Greater student honesty, and the academic integrity of the place offering the online education program will be upheld, making this even to a marketing point to get more students down the road.

Government Certifications: Does It Mean Anything???

More Advancements . . .

Well, here we go, two days in a row, more advancements made in Fingerprint Recognition.  The Biometrics Vendor is known as “Neurotechnology” (interestingly enough, they are based out of Lithuania, but are a very dominant player worldwide in the Biometrics scene), their Fingerprint Solution is known as “MegaMatcher” and “VeriFinger SDK”. 

Here are the details:  “Neurotechnology, a provider of high-precision biometric identification technologies, today announced that MegaMatcher and VeriFinger SDK fingerprint compression algorithms have received WSQ Certification. This means that the FBI has certified that these implementations meet the accuracy requirements in the Wavelet Scalar Quantization (WSQ) Gray-Scale Fingerprint Image Compression Specification, Version 3.1. Neurotechnology is among the first companies to receive FBI certifications for Version 3.1 of the WSQ, which is the latest standard for exchange of fingerprint images within the biometrics and criminal justice community. According to the FBI, the certification program is designed to facilitate interoperability between agencies and ensure efficient access to FBI criminal justice information services. Also WSQ certification is required by customers in many other countries and is included in various national-scale AFIS tender requirements. Neurotechnology has received a total of seven FBI WSQ certificates for different platform implementations, certifying that WSQ compression technology in MegaMatcher and VeriFinger SDKs meet FBI standards.” (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9123/). 

As you can see from the above quote, it may not be the hugest of technical developments, but nevertheless to say, receiving this certification from the FBI is obviously a huge step forward (the exact details of the certification can be seen above, no need to rehash again).  Given this “feather in the hat”, this certification makes this Biometrics Vendor a forefront player in the global market, where other countries look up to certification levels based here in the United States with some respect. 

And receiving any kind or type of certification from a Federal Government law enforcement agency does carry its kudos with it.  And, another kudos to this Biometrics Vendor is that they have achieved another level of certification, which is with the NIST-MINEX.  NIST is a major component of the Federal Government, and they are one of the biggest decision makers and deal makers from within here.  Achieving a level of certification here also speaks volume, as now this Biometrics Vendor (as well as others  who get this) can partake in those types of and kinds of applications which heavily involve the Federal Government “Personal Identity Verification Program”.  

True, I have been a critic of the Federal Government in the past on many occasions, but this one time I feel that they hand out or award to Biometrics Vendors really does mean a lot, and carries weight in the international sector.  After all, you really do not hear about other countries worldwide which offer such certifications as our own Federal Government does.  So although the breakthrough in this Posting may not be directly a technical one, achieving any type or kind of certification by our Federal Government is still an advancement, none the less.