Biometrics for enterprise security
Mark Crosbie · Network Security · 2005
‘You can't leave your finger behind,’ as biometrics fans never tire of telling us. In fact biometrics have been promoted as a ‘foolproof’ way to authenticate an individual's identity. But how much should we trust those claims? Industry vendors even suggest error rates of less than one in a million, which appear far too broad (and too good) to be true. A brave new world of reliable and trustworthy authentication is promised, but how applicable are biometrics really in the enterprise today? Few decisions facing security professionals are straightforward – for instance, whether to use a central database to store all biometrics for users, or to issue them with a smartcard that will hold their biometric samples; whether to use the good old finger, or retina, vein patterns, perhaps – or even the way you walk. This article aims to dispel some of the common myths around biometrics, to give a deeper grasp of today's biometric technology and what it implies. Biometrics have been touted as a ‘foolproof’ way to authenticate an individual's identity – and industry vendors claim accuracy ratings of more than a million to one. A brave new world of reliable and trustworthy authentication is promised, but just how much can you trust those claims, and how applicable are biometrics in the enterprise today?