Many of us have seen and heard about biometrics, and maybe associate it, with personal ID cards, or with finger printing access control, or facial recognition systems in conjunction with the CCTV industry, but few have perhaps taken the time to think about its real meaning. Below is the definition as quoted from the Concise Oxford Dictionary:

bio’metry n., biome’trics n. pl. (usu. treated as sing.)
science of the application of statistical methods to
biological facts; so biometrIC(AL) adjs.,
biometrician n. (f. BIO- + METRY)

Biometric technologies aim to create a unique identification for an individual by using a statistical measurement of a certain characteristic or physical behaviour of that individual. This unique biometric information can then be electronically stored, retrieved and later used for comparison as proof of identification. In theory then, Biometric systems should always be entirely accurate, but of course it is never quite so straightforward as we first think…


So Many Characteristic Human Traits
The concept of biometric ID is truly amazing, and the industry is packed with extremely high-level scientists/mathematicians at the top of their profession. These scientists have delved into almost every aspect of the human form to find unique identification traits. Biometrics is the real science of taking an image template of one of those forms, applying it to their own carefully calculated mathematical formula or algorithm, and producing a solution of digits that will be unique to that particular trait of that particular person. Initial research in the eighties started on Finger Printing and Retina Recognition, and in fact it was Finger Printing biometrics that was first commercially available in the mid eighties. Since these initial research years the interest and demand for biometrics has increased, and the costs associated with biometric solutions has decreased dramatically as a result. For example a finger print reader in the eighties might have cost around 100 USD in comparison to the 5-10 USD of today.


Biometric Technology Variants
As we mentioned in Part 1, although some companies involved have folded due to lack of financial support, there is still a remarkable level of extremely pro-active and exciting research currently being conducted to enhance the existing possibilities for biometrics within:

• Fingerprinting
• Hand Geometry
• Palm Printing
• Vein Patterns
• Dynamic Grip Recognition
• Facial Thermography
• Facial Features 2 D
• Facial Features 3D
• Iris Recognition
• Retina Recognition – The emphasis on research into Retina Recognition lost some impact in recent years, due to the fears associated with the level of the light needed for the identification process, but it is reported that newly developed methods of identification using infrared lighting have now refuelled the research in this area.

• Voice Recognition
• Signature Recognition
• Keystroke Dynamics
• DNA
• Gait Recognition

Predictably by far, currently, the most widely used is Finger Print Scanning due to the wide range of potential applications where finger print based technologies are effective and of course by the lowering costs. According to IBG (the International Biometrics Group) Finger Print based technologies already account for over 50% of the biometrics marketplace. The next most popular technologies, due to their being readily accepted, easy to implement and relatively cost effective are signature and voice recognition. Facial Recognition, Hand Scan and Iris Scan tend to be less widely used as they are more complex to implement and need a larger financial commitment to run them, together with the issues still to resolve on legal use and privacy. Many of the other technologies are really still in their infancy such as Gait Recognition, Dynamic Grip Recognition and 3D Facial Recognition.

It is fair to say, that in the instance of biometric systems, although some of the technology types are more advanced and seemingly more accurate than others that there is actually no “leading” technology. The fact is that the best indicator to determine which of the technologies to use for any given project is the suitability, practicality and of course, budget of each individual application itself. We will be looking in more detail at the different technologies and some of their various bestsuited applications, in later editions of this series.


The Biometrics Process
Every Biometrics system needs to have accompanying software, middle-ware, and hardware these are the programmes and devices that will calculate, capture, save, retrieve, compare and match or reject each unique biometric identifier.

A Biometrics system will generally be required to work in one of two ways, that is for identification or for verification. In either case the initial set up, referred to as Enrolment is generally very similar and depends upon correct input of information. The Enrolment process is the overall method of setting up the root of the system, and consists of five stages:

• Presentation of the Biometric
Adding the unique biometric trait to the database, often several examples from the same person are recorded to take fluctuations into account for example voice tones, or facial expressions.

• Capturing the Biometric
Measuring and sampling the basic biometric image information.

• Processing the Biometric
Converting the captured data into numeric information to create an equivalent of a vocal PIN, or a facial PIN number.

• Verifying the Biometric against the original Presentation
Reintroducing the biometric to verify that the system has captured and recognises the data correctly.

• Storage of the Biometric
Filing of the confirmed biometric data.

The final Enrolment should result in an accurate, usable electronically presented set of biometric information to either a database or set of ID/Smart Cards.

Enrolment is the one area where absolute cooperation from all users and the best accuracy levels are of the utmost importance, as the future development, use and accuracy of the whole system will depend upon it. However, as we will discover, the accuracy at each level of the process is not only covered by the parameters of the technology and the equipment used, but also by the requirements of the users.


Serious Planning
Considering a biometrics system implementation should take time and a phenomenal detailed amount of planning. The more time spent on studying, the best biometric to use, the exceptions, the restrictions, the project itself, the foreseen costs and benefits, and understanding the real specific targets and requirements of the user will drastically increase the efficiency and acceptance of the final system and will certainly contribute to a smoother implementation. In fact there are various books, guidelines and software available giving proven planning and application advice, which guide the user towards collating the necessary information and turning it into figures to provide a working set of implementation parameters.


Identification and Verification
One of the key factors to consider will be the question of Identification or Verification. The concept is that the first requires a central database of biometric information to match a presented individual against, usually resulting in a list of nearest matches from the central database, aiming at the first on the list being the correct match. The second requires a comparison between a biometric presented electronically via a smart card for example and a biometric presented by the accompanying individual. In the case of Identification we are matching, one against many possibilities, called 1 to many, whereas, with Verification we are simply checking there is a match, called 1 to1. As we mentioned in Part 1, there are many legal, privacy and social issues to be resolved with the advent of biometric technology. The Verification route, or simple matching of 1 to 1, will in many cases provide a more socially acceptable solution, as the information relating to the individual is contained only on a single card retained by that individual, and not on a central database, which is the subject that forms the basis of many arguments against the general implementation of national biometric ID Cards.


PKI and Smart Cards – Competition or Complimentary?
Experts from the industry do not see biometrics as the ”ultimate stand alone solution”. They will be the first to ask the question, “Do we really need a biometrics solution here or is there some other combination which may prove more effective?” As experts in their own field, they are well aware of the real problems that are bound to arise in the practical use of biometric technology, but unfortunately these are the elements that even they cannot control. Assuming the technology itself is accurate (something we will look at later in the series), problems will always arise whenever we include the human factor – inevitably we are the creators, whilst at the same time we provide the weak link in the chain. Problems through human error, caused by mistakes through tiredness, boredom or lack of concentration, problems through human nature such as refusal to cooperate, and sheer malicious intention and criminal activity need to be identified and isolated to an absolute minimum as part of any initial implementation process. However, if we compare these to the existing ID systems today without Biometrics then the problems of human error are even greater, and the addition of a biometric combination can only improve the situation. For example today a photo ID card currently needs to be verified by a human checker – this checker will sometimes become bored, complacent, fall asleep or make subjective or unauthorised decisions. A similar card may be authenticated electronically with PKI technology or a PIN number, but who is to say that the user is the owner of the card? Using Biometrics as a logical tool alongside Smart Cards or PKI technology will enhance performance and can eliminate all of these problems in terms of security, access control and information security. It is expected that these forms of technology amongst others will be used together on a regular basis alongside Biometrics, and the industry has already coined a phrase for their effective combination – Synergistic Technologies.

In Part 3 of our Introduction to Biometrics series, which will be released on SecurityWorldHotel.com/UK in January 2005, we will be looking at the controversial subject of accuracy of the differing technologies, testing and standards.