Australia is keeping pace with governments around the world with its use of biometric technology. But as Simon Sharwood discovers, we are currently operating in a policy vacuum with technology that is far from perfect.
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Contents 
Why biometric security?
When to use biometrics?
Interest and policy
Sidebar: Loose lips sink ships? |
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"White" hackers -- security consultants paid to test an organisation's security by trying to break it -- have similar tactics. Some walk into the offices they are investigating wearing a boiler suit with "ACME computer removals" emblazoned across them. Few co-workers raise an eyebrow and their activities attract little or no attention, even though they literally carry PCs out of the building. The ease with which it is possible to accomplish such feats highlights the fragility of authentication tools based on simple safeguards such as passwords or ID cards.
Even more sophisticated solutions like proximity cards or magstripe cards used at many public sector installations are failing, according to John Genner, CEO of biometrics specialist BQT Solutions.
"Proximity and magstripe readers do not provide the security that is needed," Genner says. "These technologies have no encryption on the radio frequency link, no security, no purse, no biometric capability, no encrypted output; [and] no personal details can be embedded on the cards. Finally, data can be easily captured by a portable device, an emulator that behaves like a proximity card with a database of numbers stored in the emulator."
In the government sector, that spells trouble. Banks may guard our money and corporations may be charged with safeguarding our privacy, but in the public sector these requirements are more urgent because of the need to avoid the political fallout that comes with failure.
For the many government agencies with homeland security roles, the stakes are even higher as they maintain secret documents or operate facilities that must not be seen or accessed by unauthorised personnel.
