Biometrics Security News and Information

Dinosaurs Never Die - They Keep Living On

I Hate Passwords

Well, as much as I have written about them, I have to admit even to myself, that I utterly despise passwords.  It seems like that as of today, I have the most number of passwords I have to remember than in my entire life.  Everything from my work, to e-mail, to all of the social media sites, financial information, and who knows what else.   And you know what the worst thing is if you can’t remember your password?  True, you do have an option of having a temporary password e-mailed to you (assuming you type in the right e-mail address), but in order for that to be accomplished, you have to answer a whole plethora of challenge and response questions which I had to set up a long time ago. 

Now, how am I supposed to remember all of that nonsense?  Yes, there are alternatives to this, and as of the present time, Biometrics presents the perfect solution.  One swipe of your finger (or even eye, for that matter), and you are in. But today, I came across another unique solution being offered by a Biometrics Vendor known as “Precise Biometrics”. 

Here we go:  “The smart casing is the first of its kind on the market. With a built-in smart card reader and fingerprint sensor, the product enables the highest level of security for network access, messaging, data protection and strong authentication to the most popular mobile platforms . . . Precise Biometrics has developed a smart casing with a built-in smart card reader and fingerprint sensor. The product meets the increasing requirements on network security and strong authentication raised by today's government, healthcare, enterprise and banking sectors . . . The smart casing fulfills a need for users who want to access sensitive information or cloud-based applications from their smart devices, but are restricted from doing so due to security or convenience issues.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9514/).

My Take

True, this is a single sign on solution, and in this regard, it is probably very similar to the other solutions which are out there in the marketplace.  But there, are a number of key differences, which in my mind, sets this out from the others.  First, as you can see from the above quote, this is a solution in which the actual fingerprint reader is encased into what is known as a “smart casing”.  I have never heard of this one before, all of the other SSO’s I have seen have the actual solution as a stand alone device, exposed to the outside elements.  This is pretty slick, heck, having the solution inside a casing.  That will help protect the SSO for sure, thus keeping the optical sensor just that more robust. 

Second, from what I can gather as well, it seems like that this SSO is very much a plug and play device.  Meaning, you can take around wherever you go (thus, I am assuming the need for the casing), whether business or for pleasure, and use this smart device in any system, any computer, or even any application you may ever have to access.  With the current SSO’s out there, these are mostly locally based.  Meaning, if you install the hardware and software on one computer, the only way you can use it onto another system is if you do the entire reinstallation process entirely again.  Now, that would be a huge pain in the butt if you are a heavy business traveler.  With all of this in mind, a whole host of applications can now have their security needs addressed, ranging especially from the government, to healthcare, to mobile and wireless security, all the way to financial transactions. 

Third, this is the first SSO I have read about on the market which addresses the security needs of the cloud.  Given the current economic conditions we are in, every SME is looking at ways to trim their IT budgets, but yet possess an enterprise grade infrastructure.  The cloud is the obvious solution to this.  But with so many business owners now crowding up to this, security is going to be of prime concern, especially when it comes to backing up and storing proprietary business information and data.  So enter yet Biometrics once again to the rescue, and this Biometrics Vendor is for sure going to be leading the ultimate way here.  And I for one, would not mind using a solution like this for my own cloud needs, for the tech writing needs. 

But, the big question remains, and that is, will all of this new technology ever completely replace passwords?  In other words, will passwords become obsolete and a thing of the past?  Probably not.  There will come a point when people will get so fed up of passwords (not only by the sheer amount they have to remember, but also now much stricter business security policies with regards to password entropy), its use will probably decline greatly. 

But just like JCL and COBOL, passwords will still be around.  After all, there will be those people and businesses still stuck in the old world of doing things, and not ever give up their legacy systems.

It's Time To Bring Out Your Competitive Spirit

I Love Competition

You know, whether it is in the workplace or just in your daily lives, being competitive to a certain degree is healthy.  It is always good to be driven to strive for the best, and to always improve ourselves.  True, it is not always easy, there will be many times we will fall short of our goals.  But as the saying goes, it is much better to have tried than not tried at all.  And suppose you lose, or you fall short of your goals?  Really, in the end, so what?  Nobody is going to judge for you it, and you will not lose what you have.  If anything, the top reward in the end will to be have learned where you fell short, and to apply what you have learned into the future.  To me, this is what is most important.  In a way, yes, winning is great, but so is losing. 

A perfect example of this are my martial arts tournaments that I go to.  I have done probably about 25+ or so in my years of training, and I have only won just a small handful.  I end up usually coming in second place.  But, I am never disappointed in myself.  I always learn from my experiences, because I usually fight against people I have never met before, and I always try to observe their sparring styles, take mental note of it, and apply it to the future.  That is what I love about competition.  And not just here, but competition is also taking root in the Biometrics Industry. 

The latest has been announced, and here are the details:  “We are pleased to announce, the first Eye Movement Verification and Identification Competition. This in an official competition for BTAS 2012 (The Fifth IEEE International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications and Systems) and all results will be published during that conference . . . The aim of the contest is to determine how people may be identified based on their eye movement characteristic. The organizers will provide all interested participants three datasets of eye movements' recordings in extremely simple EMD format.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9519/).

My Take

Really, there is nothing new about competition in the Biometrics Industry.  The only difference it is still an up coming thing, there have not been too many of them held.  And of those which have been held, have focused primarily on fingerprint, facial, and iris recognition.  The core of these competitions is not so much the technology involved, but rather, the extraction and matching mathematical algorithms which exist in the hardware. People always want the fastest and most robust algorithms which are out there.  But, this is the first time I have seen anything about and eye movement/eye pattern recognition contest being launched like this. 

After all, it is being organized and sponsored by the IEEE, so it will be of strong value and merit.  But what is even best about this contest versus others from the past competitions is that the participants do not need to waste money or travel expense traveling, nor, do they need to acquire any specialized hardware.  From  what best I can understand, all the participants have to do is to download the requisite data sets, formulate their respective models and algorithms, and then upload back into the system again.  How slick is that?  Hmm, maybe future Biometrics competitions should be like this, huh?  Well, whatever the results are from this breaking competition, it will make news for sure, and will probably hit the Biometrics headlines hard.

And of course, I will be there to get it all and report the results back to you.  Also, I find this to be very coincidental to the posting about the new media research being created.  As you may recall, it is being established for the use of conducting market research in real time, with eye movement and tracking being one of the prime Biometric tools employed.  Who knows perhaps the algorithms and models which are formulated from this contest could be applied in the real world as well.  Obviously, the more robust an algorithm or a model is, it is most likely able to capture the most minute details when observing how potential customers react to certain advertisements and social media stimuli. 

And  as much as the detail is important, so is the time required in gauging such emotion.  In this business, the shortest amount of time required is the best. After all, in viral marketing, millions of dollars could be made or lost in just a matter of seconds.  Hmm, maybe even in the longer term, it is these media giants which could also sponsor these Biometric competitions, huh?  Just food for thought . . .

What Social Media Will Be Like Into The Future

The Social Aspects Of It All

Ya know, Biometrics as I have written about is one of those things which embraces two very important things:  technology and the social aspects.  True, Biometrics is for sure the former, but what do I mean about the latter?  Well, if you think about all things security related (minus the actual security guard), Biometrics is something which has, or will, in the near future, embrace our everyday lives, in the way we purchase items and communicate with another.  This embracement will either be positive or negative for most people, and so far, I would have to say it is somewhere in between, probably erring to the side of more negative.  This is from the standpoint of privacy rights, of course. 

But now, people are capitalizing further upon the social aspect of things, and trying to extrapolate it for further purposes.  Here we go:  “Time Warner Inc. today announced the opening of a state of the art Medialab for research and development at its worldwide headquarters in New York City. The Time Warner Medialab has been designed to generate valuable insights into consumer behavior, evolving media habits and industry trends across all of Time Warner's businesses, brands and advertising partners . . . The Time Warner Medialab, located within Time Warner Center on New York's Columbus Circle, provides an unprecedented destination for testing engagement throughout the entire consumer experience. The facility offers different everyday settings for conducting studies including a 50-seat theater, an in-home style living room, a consumer retail area with a mock checkout, an eye-tracking station and gaming stations, all observable live by researchers both at the lab and around the world.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9516/). 

My Take

And . . . this is something I have written about before as well.  I have composed some writings as to how Biometrics is being used for market research, in real time, in order to gauge consumer’s reactions to certain advertisements, commercials, etc.  Usually, this research in the past has been a collaborative effort between different media groups, so what makes this content different and new is that now an actual research center is being devoted to conduct this research, as you can see from up above.  And, it seems to be a very elaborate setup of sorts in order to test subjects with the most accuracy and scientific detail possible. 

The Biometrics that are going to be used include tracking emotion, eye movements, as well as focus group interviews.  The basic premise of all this is to see what the physiological reactions are of the subjects when they are exposed to different stimuli in the way of the various media channels.  Although, this definition of Biometrics may be quite a bit of a stretch according to the people who compiled the testing material for the CBP exam, of which I am studying for right now.  But hey, to me it is still all Biometrics (but in a different light), because it is people’s unique, biological reactions which are being monitored.  But there is one important thing here.  With the advent of the Internet and now all things social media related (especially the likes of You Tube, Facebook, and the likes of that), the days of commercial TV, just like Border’s and the traditional newspapers, may soon be numbered. 

I hope that the research which will be conducted at this new, ultra modern research center will primarily focus upon the latter.  After all, this is where most of the marketers are now going to advertise and showcase their products and services, and rely heavily upon what is known as “viral marketing”-meaning how quickly something can spread into the eyes and ears of viewers on the Internet.  This is where the money is going to be made not only now, but well into the next century (if something better or even more powerful than social media develops).  And with this, who knows, even the Biometrics Industry can now go through a total, entire transformation.  What I mean by this is that instead of the traditional applications such as physical access entry, time and attendance, and logical security, now the focus will be on social media and the advertising which takes place on it. 

After all, people will want to make sure what they are seeing, hearing, and especially downloading, is very safe.  The industry needs to be ready for this huge monumentous change in direction, which I predict could very well happen even within this decade, if not the next few years.  In the end, in all types and kinds of industries, the name of the game is always to make money.  And this is so true also of our own industry. Let’s just hope we capitalize upon in time, in other words, being the early adopters and the pioneers, and not the laggards in the spectrum of things.

The Cloud: What Does It Mean To You?

In The Stratosphere

Yes, we all have heard of it.  The Cloud.  As customers, as small to medium sized business owners, we hear about it everyday.  For those of you who may not have heard what the cloud is about (and admittedly, it took me some time to figure it all out as well), it is essentially outsourcing all of your computer and network infrastructure (including telephony) to a third party.  There are tons of advantages to this, probably the two most are to the end user: 1) Substantial cost savings; 2) Setting up your IT infrastructure in just a matter of a few minutes and a few clicks with your mouse.  And, the nice thing about the cloud is that just about any industry, application, or human being can use it to fit their needs almost perfectly.   Such is even the case with the Biometrics Industry. 

Here we go:  “BridgePoint Systems, the broadest provider of smart-card readers and enrollment software for Physical Access Control Systems (PACs), today announced that Neal Smith Federal Building has implemented its TrustAlert PACS (formerly TrustZone PACS). BridgePoint and its partner, EmbarkIT, installed the new system ahead of schedule and within the facility's budget parameters . . . BridgePoint utilized Neal Smith Federal building's existing infrastructure to install TrustAlert PACS, all-the-while using a cloud-based protocol. This eliminated the need for locally-based IT server and system resources. The new Physical Access System is much more energy efficient than the previous security system because it leverages the General Service Administration's (GSA's) Wide Area Network (WAN) and remote IT infrastructure located in Kansas City, Missouri.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9515/).

My Take

So as you can see from the above quote, the primary application in which the cloud was used for was physical access entry.  Now, keep in mind that not the entire thing was in the cloud.  Just the IT setup was (such as the servers, networking, etc. all the stuff that is needed to process the Biometric templates).  Putting Biometrics into the cloud is something I have prodded upon on before a couple of times, and in fact I even called this sort of thing the BaaS:  Biometrics as a Service (though I am sure that by now this name has been taken by others).  There not have been too many reports on Biometrics applications from within the cloud, it is Voice Recognition which has been making the waves, especially when it comes to the call centers, and verification of the end user on the other end of the phone.  The content in the above quote is probably the first time I have seen an approach from physical access entry. 

Although this is a great leap for Biometrics, I am envisioning the day when Biometrics will be totally in the cloud.  By this I mean that all of the Biometric templates, and processing will take place in the cloud (including all of the databases, and even the requisite software).  All that would be needed is the just the hardware (such as the fingerprint scanner) for the business owner.  And given that the cost of hardware is drastically coming down, this shouldn’t be too much of an expense of the business owner.  Just think of all of the advantages here, with Biometrics in the cloud.  No need to rehash them here, just do a Google search on the benefits, and extrapolate that to the world of Biometrics.  But, one specific advantage should be mentioned here. 

For those businesses which have offices worldwide, the cloud can bridge other business security needs very quickly.  This can be best exemplified here as well.  In this scenario, where some other 40+ buildings and another 500+ employees with different smart cards all had to come together under the same umbrella.  And who can overlook the environmental benefits of the cloud, and going green???  But of course, with all of these benefits, there will be a downside to having Biometrics in the cloud.  It is not from a technical standpoint, but from the social perspective.  People are already freaked out about being scanned and having their templates stored, I just wonder what the reaction will be like once they find out it will all be stored in some database with a third party.  

Probably images of Big Brother and the FBI’s massive fingerprint database will appear.  So as much as progress is being made with the technology, the industry also needs to address this.  I mean what’s the point if nobody is interested and scared, right???  Leaps and bounds will be met with serious setbacks, if the industry cannot simply educate people about Biometrics.  But you know what, maybe it won’t be so bad when it all moves to the cloud. 

After all, almost everybody has heard of it, and that could only help the acceptance rate more, and perhaps the usage of Biometrics.  For somebody who relies upon the cloud for their tech writing needs, I can tell you, I am all for one for BaaS, and Biometrics in the cloud.  Upwards, and onwards!!!

Endless Opportunities Abound In The Middle East

The Jewel To The East

When we hear about the Middle East, what are the first thoughts that come to your mind?  Probably, 9/11, hatred towards the United States, and of course, terror acts.  But really, the Middle East is much, much more than just all of this.  It is a region where there is very rich culture (and not to mention, tons of oil to fill our appetites), and many booming opportunities for businesses and commerce of all types.  The Middle East is also a great vacation spot for tourists (of course, depending where you go), and is even a great investment area.  Heck, the banks of the Middle East are even to be deemed to be the “safest” in the world.  And of course, there is the room for Biometrics as well. 

So, it comes to no surprise that two Biometric Vendors have just announced a partnership to explore the lucrative opportunities in the Middle East.  The details:  “A strategic partnership between Human Recognition Systems (HRS), the UK’s independent leader in biometric solutions, and the Olive Group for the Middle East and North African regions has been agreed . . . The agreement will see HRS leverage the extensive presence of Olive Group, a leader in integrated risk mitigation solutions within the Middle East, a market with huge potential for biometrics. Olive Group will have the ability to extend its current offerings to its clients with biometric solutions already developed, proven and trusted by HRS clients from critical infrastructure, aviation and government sectors.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.biometricnewsportal.com/biometrics_news3.asp?articleid=267136&arttitle=Human Recognition Systems and Olive Group partner to increase the pace of biometric adoption for the Middle East and position them for market leadership).

My Take

As you can see from the up above, this partnership is to focus primarily upon the aviation and government industries (I guess the government will always be a huge customer of Biometrics, no matter what the country is), and the specific applications include everything from ID Theft to mobile and Smartphone management.  But, in my view, it should be noted that not all regions within the Middle East will be particularly ripe for Biometric growth.  This of course, is greatly dependent upon the deep cultural and religious divides, and those countries which are willing to embrace Western technology and ways of doing commerce.  So, which countries should the Biometrics Industry forget about? 

These include Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and some parts of Saudi Arabia.  If any types of applications were to be implemented here, it would be on the scale of military and heavy government usage for the poor people in these countries, so they can be correctly identified.  Which countries are the best to market to?  These include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and other such countries.  Not only are these countries flush with money, but they are much more open to Western technologies.  So why not invest in those places where this is true, and have tons of money to spend???  In my view, I think the biggest applications for Biometrics in these geographic regions will be for wireless, and uses in aviation.  After all, oil tycoons don’t want to waste time when it comes time to making deals about their oil (meaning, they want to be plugged in as much as possible). 

And also, these countries just mentioned are also investing heavily into their aviation infrastructure; one airline that comes into mind is Emirates.  They have started to advertise here in the United States, flashing off their brand new 777’s.  And with this growth in aviation, will come the growth in travel, and yes, the e-Passport  . . . ah, the “sky is the limit” here, it seems like.  Really, in the end, countries here in the Middle East and in the West need to put aside their differences in order to see Biometrics really proliferate. 

Who knows, will it be Biometrics in the end which unifies and bridges the gap between the East and the West???  Only time will tell.

Smartphones Keep Getting Smarter

Smartphones Keep Moving Forward

Well, how was everybody’s weekend?  Mine was sort of the same, with two major differences.  I competed in the first TKD tournament this year, and I got the gold by default.  The second major thing, well my beautiful Anita and I made more progress on the wedding planning front.  We made a lot of headway in looking at wedding invitations (personally, I never thought that there could be so many of them out there .  . . but hey, that means we have a lot to choose from).  But, back to the tournament.  There is one theme that is always recurring as of recent.  Since TKD tournaments have a lot of kids competing, it means that there will be a lot of parents attending, to support their children. 

But rather than using the Smartphone to call their family and friends to tell them how their little athlete is faring, the trend now is to use all of the mobile apps as possible to keep people apprised via Twitter, Facebook, and all of the other social media things you can think of.  I guess in a way, it makes sense.  Why waste time calling when all you have to do is just quickly enter 140 characters or less???  So, with this image of Smartphones emblazed into your mind, it is today that I came across a press release than a Biometrics Vendor has just launched a whole new set of Smartphones, all Biometric enabled. 

So, here we go:  “The RaptorONE and RaptorPAD represent a tremendous leap forward in the Mobile Biometrics field. They provide current communications technologies and robust processing power with leading edge biometrics in highly mobile, cost-efficient, handheld devices. Raptor ID's exclusive Extended Depth of Field (EDOF) iris capture technology allows users to capture iris images with extraordinary clarity, anywhere from 5"-9" away, enabling true one-hand point-and-shoot iris capture. Raptor ID's exclusive TalonTM biometric capture interface is an intuitive, icon-based application that enables user training in minutes, not months . . . Raptor ID's modular devices function as the computing-power "engine" for the operator. Both devices are compatible with interchangeable add-on modules, enabling a wide array of additional mission sets - RFID readers; contactless card readers; peer-to-peer radio; satellite radio over a wide variety of bandwidths; multi-TB storage for mirroring content from suspect devices and PC's; passport readers; laser barcode; streaming video from helmet cams/bore-scopes/rifle scopes; and almost anything the use case calls for.” (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9512/).

My Take

You are probably thinking, yea, yea, big deal, another Smartphone comes out on the market.  And, when I first read the article, those were my first thoughts as well.  But this Smartphone differs from most others are a number of fronts.  First, this is one piece of device in which another Biometric Technology is clearly being used, and as you can see from up above, it deals with Iris Recognition.  This is probably one of the very few times I have seen Iris Recognition ever specifically mentioned.  It’s always either Fingerprint Recognition, and now, Voice Recognition.  Second, this device supports a series of other kinds of security solutions-ranging all the way from bar codes to smart cards to the e-Passport to contactless card scanners, the works. 

And to be honest, I can say without a doubt that this is the very first time I have seen such a Smartphone with so many security modalities already attached to it.  Third, this Biometrics Vendor has taken a very unique approach to the way it is making this Smartphone.  Rather than making specialty products for very niche style segments, their approach is to create apps which are more popularly used, and market them to much broader market segment.  So, as a result, more revenue can possibly be made because more people will be marketed to.  But, here is the tradeoff.  Although in theory more revenue will be made, it will take a lot more to make more money, rather than selling to the specialty markets, where a lot of money can be made as well, with just a few purchases by some large customers. 

So, it all comes to down to do we market more, or market less???  It seems like they favor the approach to market to the mass crowds.  Nothing wrong with that, it is just a different way of marketing for the Biometrics Industry.  Now, that Iris Recognition has made its way into the Smartphone market, I wonder when the day will come when we see all of it put together:  A Smartphone which has Voice Recognition, Iris Recognition, Facial Recognition, Fingerprint Recognition.  This would be the ultimate multimodal security solution to the core.  When will it come out, I wonder???  Perhaps by the time I write the next posting on this very topic  . . .

A New, Covert Way Of Marketing

How Old Are You?

Well, there is one thing I have learned in my life.  And, that is, no matter where you are in life, asking anybody about age is always a very sensitive topic and subject.  I guess you never ask anybody outright about their age, there are ways and very tactful ways of asking somebody.  So, how do you it?  Biometrics may provide the proverbial smoking gun.  Several vendors (including biometric and non biometric) got together to create a downloadable app for the Android Smartphone in order to provide an answer to this every elusive question I have posed. 

The details:  “AppTech Corp announced today the launch of "ReconAge", a mobile age recognition app for Android phones. The application, available for free download in the Android Market, recognizes the approximate age of a person by making use of real time face recognition biometric systems online . . . Now, advertisers will be able to ascertain the age, gender, and ethnicity of their audience and evaluate whether they are advertising the right products to the right demographics . . . AppTech is uniting brilliant minds around this idea. With the launch of ReconAge, we intend to introduce the usefulness of biometric algorithms applied to mobile devices in the field of marketing. The possibilities are virtually limitless.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9509/).

My Take

Now, it should be noted that the downloadable app is not a new biometric technology known as “Age Recognition”.  Though, this concept has been tested before.  Rather, it is Facial Recognition which is the brawn behind this app.  Rather, as you can see from up above, the main purpose of this is to be used by marketers in order to make sure they position they products and services appropriately to the right target audiences, namely the people who have downloaded this app.  In a very crude way, this is analagous to cookies on your computer.  Notice whenever you visit a particular website, all of a sudden you see various click ads of products and goods and services you may have an interest in, and even websites of vendors you have seen or bought before online??? 

This is truly a slick way of marketing, as advertisers can now get data in real time about their potential customer base.  Best of all, it is low cost (as the app is a free download, I am assuming), and the advertisers can reach millions of millions of potential customers not just here in the United States, but possibly even abroad as well.  And this trend is only going to continue to grow. For instance, according to the press release, the Android market is now almost at 53%, and this app will soon be made available for the iPhone and the iPad.  And guaranteed, these two alone probably command a bigger market share worldwide.  So, this is almost cherry picking season for the advertisers, of all kinds and types. 

While this is good news in terms of new customers and revenue, I have serious trust issues as to how all of this data will be disseminated.  Granted, there will be privacy statements issued by the advertisers, who is to say where our private and confidential is going to whom and where???  And what if it is an ID thief on the receiving end???  This is an especially important issue to consider here, as encrypting the wireless airwaves now becomes of prime concern to everybody.  If it was me, I am rather old fashioned.  I would rather take my own time and research to see the various websites of the different online merchants.  I personally have a problem even with cookies on my laptop, and those annoying click ads come up.  I feel like I am being watched, and even stalked at my times. 

And add to the fact that Facial Recognition is being used, privacy rights issues are sure to abound.  But, I could very well be proven wrong.  Given how “plugless” our society has become, who knows, this whole concept may very well be embraced, especially if people win prizes and money (this is also one of the objectives of this app).  To me, I like things simple and easy to use.  I don’t get into downloads, and all of the fancy Smartphone technology. 

Hmm, maybe I am the one behind the times then.  Will I ever get a Smartphone and be a part of this plugless society???  Not for a long time to come, that I can guarantee you.  I am a brick and mortar kind of person, I need to touch and feel things.  In this regard, I am probably still a minority.  Hmm, maybe as a result I will still shine in the end, because I am not following the populace at large??? Only time will tell.

A Day When No Money Exists

The Cashless Society

Hey, have any of you noticed a “subliminal message” in my blog postings as of late?  That is, with the use of Biometrics, heading towards a much easier lifestyle, of course over time.  And this will not just be encompassed into our work atmospheres, it will also this “hopeful ease” will also lend itself to the way we travel, make purchases, pay our bills, the works.  But there is another way in which now Biometrics will be used to make our lives just a little bit easier:  Not having to carry cash.  Just recently, a Biometrics Vendor known as “SmartMetric, Inc.” just announced that it is incorporating the use of Biometrics into Smart Cards. 

The details:  “While most of the World has adopted EMV SmartCards that use what is euphemistically called "Chip and Pin" and such Cards have seen fraud rates halved in countries using these Cards, they still rely on a combination of both new and old technology, namely a SmartCard Chip that is activated by a user's PIN. While the Chip and Pin Card is a great deal safer than the magnetic stripe card that it has replaced in most advanced places around the world, it is still vulnerable to fraud attack because it still relies on the very vulnerable PIN process for authentication . . . the genius of the SmartMetric solution is that it combines two advanced technologies into the Card. Namely, SmartCard Chip and Biometrics rather than the less secure "Chip and Pin." The market size for the SmartMetric "Chip & Biometric" EMV Card is Global and growing very rapidly. Most of the world has fully migrated or is in the process of migrating to EMV chip technology for debit and credit payments.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9505/).

My Take

OK, as you can see up above, the basic premise here is to use Biometrics in lieu of the traditional PIN Number, in order to make things more secure.  Nothing new here really, as Biometrics is being used already in conjunction with Smart Cards, and the e-Passport is one of the prime examples of this.  Although the specific technology was not mentioned, I am assuming that the templates stored on the Smart Card can range anywhere from iris to facial to fingerprint templates.  In fact, this si the de facto standard pretty much all over now.  But putting the two concepts together, this combination will soon make its way so that we can now use a Smart Card as a Credit Card, and rather than having to worry about our credit card number being stolen, we just have to worry about now if our template gets hacked into. 

But remember that templates are just mathematical representations?  So for example, a fingerprint template will be just a series of zero’s and ones (e.g. 101011110101010).  So what is a hacker going to do with that?  Nothing really.  There is no such thing as two identical templates, and each vendor has their own algorithms, so if a template were actually hacked into, and tried to be used into another system, chances are that it will probably not work.  So, see how much this is better than just using a credit card number?  Just think of all of the advantages of using a payment system like this.  We don’t have to carry any cash now, we can just rack up everything on this smart card. 

But then of course, here is the flip side to all of this:  With an easier way of paying for things now, and not having to worry about carrying cash, will we face the same debt problems like we did back in 2008, and this leading to a much worse financial crisis than we have ever faced?  We very well could if the Smart Card payment system really picks up steam here.  I mean after all, the thought of having the ability to charge anything and everything is extremely tempting.  According the press release, the use of Smart Cards will only proliferate.  For instance, “ . . . approximately 1.2 billion EMV cards have been issued globally and 18.7 million POS devices accept EMV cards as of Q1 2011. This represents 40.1 percent of the total payment cards in circulation and 71 percent of the POS devices installed globally.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9505/). 

Remember the demise of Border’s and other major newspapers due to the e-reader and other online sources?  Perhaps we could see the potential of demise of the major credit card companies over the long haul?  Only time will tell, but believe me, with the way technology is advancing, it could very well happen.

The "Voice" Of The Future

More Specific Reports Coming In

Since the New Year has started, I have written a couple of pieces about projections not only for Biometrics, but also for the security industry as a whole, including the usage of smart cards, in which many people expect a huge boom, given the explosion in the e-Passport and other access entry applications.  Well, today, I bring a much more specific projection for the rest of this year.  It has to do with Voice Recognition, and how it will impact the wireless and mobile world ways beyond we have ever imagined. 

The research has been conducted by an organization known as “Opus Research”, and here are some of their key conclusions:  “The increasing use of, and security risks associated with, smartphones for payments and banking, along with heightened incidences of data theft and increasing awareness of fraud, highlight the need for banks, businesses and governments to take another look at methods of authenticating end users. It is no longer sufficient to merely secure hardware end points. Organizations want assurances that the individual at that end point is the person he or she claims to be . . . Voice biometrics has the potential to play an important role in doing this. The general public is becoming more familiar with using their voice for mobile search, device control and dictation and today's study shows how, with the proper approach, voice authentication will soon follow. Voice biometrics can act as a part of a multi-layer authentication process to help reduce fraud and to confirm that the endpoint user is genuine. Opus Research predicts that the global number of registered voiceprints will increase from 10 million today to over 25 million in 2015.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9502/). 

My Take

Voice Recognition is something, again, I have written about before on an off in these last four years of writing.  And to me, after I read the initial findings of the market research study, it came to me of no surprise that Voice Recognition will make its anticipated boom in the coming year.  If you think about it, it only makes logical sense.  It is very easy to use, and very easy to deploy as well. All that is needed pretty much is the requisite hardware, and this too is very inexpensive, and given the trend for miniaturization in the Biometrics industry, it is also become very small, even fit for uses in the Smartphone. 

In terms of user training, there is a tiny learning curve, probably even the smallest when compared to the other Biometric technologies out there.  But best of all, Voice Recognition is almost instantaneous to use for verification.  The best example of this is in the financial industry.  At the present time, when I call Amerprise Financial, I have to go through a number of identity checks with the operator on the other side, asking for my birthday, mother’s maiden name, social security number, account number, etc.  In my opinion, minutes are wasted when I want to make a quick trade based upon how the financial markets are doing.  But with Voice Recognition, not only do you not have to remember all of this cumbersome information, but within just a second, you can be verified, and make that desired trade. 

Remember, in the financial markets, just a matter of minutes can me a huge profit and loss.  Also, another example is your Smartphone.  When you are fumbling around with it in this cold weather, do you really want to be hassled by using a fingerprint system?  I would think not.  Instead, speak something into your phone, and boom, your identity is confirmed.  And plus, Voice Biometrics works great in a multimodal security setting, putting in the ever famous 3 factor approach.  Are you an avid user of the social media sites like Twitter and Facebook? 

Well, Biometrics is seeing a small but steady growth here, and watch for Voice Recognition to make its footprint here as well.  Whenever something is “breaking news” in somebody’s life, they would want to automatically be logged in and post it.  This is especially true of viral marketing and advertising.  Just like the financial sector, any minutes wasted can mean a huge profit or loss.  But always, remember in the end, the needs of the customer needs to be evaluated and in some circumstances, Voice Recognition may or may not be the best and applicable solution to be utilized.

The Pro's And Con's Of Gun Ownership

The Right To Bear Arms

So, how many of you are advocates of the second amendment of our Constitution?  We here in the United States, are of course blessed with many freedoms, and one that is probably extremely controversial is the right to possess guns and ammunition.  This is a debate which has greatly divided the nation, political circles, and even presidential campaigns. 

And as many of you know, the National Rifle Association is not only a powerful organization, but an extremely powerful lobbyist as well.  I have my views on this, but I will keep them aside in this posting.  On a different issue relating to guns, there have been many mishaps in which the trigger is misfired by pure accident, resulting in many unneeded, horrific deaths. To help alleviate this, Biometrics (especially fingerprint recognition) has been used to help protect against the so called “itchy-trigger finger”. 

Now, Biometrics is taking a different angle with regards to gun usage.  A Biometrics Vendor known as “FaceFirst” has just announced that it has come into a partnership with a Security Vendor known as “Safety Dynamics, Inc.” 

Here are the details:  “The companies’ combined system pairs Safety Dynamics’ highly-accurate (fixed or mobile) gun-shot detection technology with FaceFirst’s top-speed facial biometric processor to provide law enforcement agencies and private physical security firms pin-point location and shooter identity information in real-time . . . Technologies for gun-shot detection and facial recognition have evolved in recent years, and today many companies compete for various homeland security government contracts. With the Safety Dynamics-FaceFirst agreement, two of the top industry leaders will combine capabilities for selected customers in a singular best-in-class solution . . . When a gun-shot event is detected, Safety Dynamics’ high-speed gunshot detection system passes the azimuth and elevation of the location of the gunshot in less than one second to the camera to point a high-resolution camera to zoom in on the location from which the ballistic signal originated . . . When the shooter’s face is captured by the gun-shot detection camera, FaceFirst then either processes the identity of the shooter against customer “watch lists,” or creates a new facial record of the shooter.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9495/).

My Take

I personally think this is a very unique and obviously very different solution from what I have come across in recent times.  It comes from a number of different points.  First, this is the only time something other than fingerprint recognition is being used.  As you can see from the above quote, it is facial recognition which is being used, and to be honest I have never seen it used before like this.  Second, this is the first time I have come across a solution which is designed to specifically ID the shooter, and in real time, using much more sophisticated technology.  Although I do have to admit that my knowledge of tracking down shooters is very minimal, as far as I know, it is very often the CCTV camera which is used. 

Although CCTV cameras have become a lot more sophisticated in recent times, the law enforcement official is often left to their own senses , training, and experience to in order to make a certain or positive claim on a shooter suspect.  Very often, this can lead to false arrests, and even worst, false convictions in a court of law.  Then at this point, it is only DNA which can set the innocent free from incarceration.  Or, if a CCTV camera is not available, then only eyewitness testimonies and mug shots can be used.  And we know how effective these can be. 

But with facial recognition, the law enforcement agent will have much more certainty now (I would even venture to say even as high as the high 80 – to low 90%’s) of who an actual shooter is.  Now, of course, facial recognition still has some of its flaws, so there will still be the need for human intervention in order to make the final decision in order to apprehend a suspect based upon the evidence collected.  Third, with this solution, the pin point location of the shooter can also be verified, thus providing more proof positive for law enforcement.  And on the fourth point, once comparisons are made when the facial recognition data is captured to what exists in terror watch lists, if a person does not actually exist, a new database record for them will be created automatically.  Now how slick is that? 

Personally, in my view , this solution can be used anywhere, but the major applications I see for it are in the border control and airport security realm of things.  Even this can be used at maritime entry/exit points.  I also wonder if this solution will take off in the United Kingdom, where CCTV cameras essentially rule the streets of London. But despite these very strong advantages, there will be some drawbacks, especially with regards to privacy rights. 

Gun owners will obviously want their identities protected if they are simply shooting for a hobby (such as animal hunting).  But some of the biggest controversies will be with the National Rifle Association.  Let’s see over due time how they react to claims of privacy rights violations.