Siemens Business Services (SBS) has added biometric authentication using iris recognition to its portfolio of managed e-security services.
Iris recognition is used around the world for physical access control, for example at the Sydney Olympic Games and at London's Heathrow Airport, but SBS claims this is the first time it has been used to control access to IT systems.
The system, developed in conjunction with Iridian Technologies and Iris Australia, can be used to identify individuals as they log into a system, and to control access to programs, folders, documents, VPNs, and Web sites or individual pages. Potential applications include kiosk access, customer identification for contact centres, and online payments, suggested Greg McAweeney, ebusiness services management consultant at SBS.
Unlike retina scanning, iris recognition is non-intrusive as it uses a black-and-white video camera to capture a picture of the eye. McAweeney, said it works with 98 percent of the population -- everyone except those who are blind in both eyes or under nine months old. Unlike fingerprint or face recognition, accuracy is unaffected by dirt, cuts, gloves, masks and so on, nor do spectacles or contact lenses present any problems. He claimed there have been no false acceptances in over two billion attempts and that the technology can even distinguish identical twins.
The software is able to distinguish between live and dead eyes, and can tell the difference between an eye and a photo of an eye. It reduces the image to a 512-byte record, and recognition takes less than two seconds even if the database contains millions of records.
Because a small USB-connected camera (the Panasonic Authenticam) is used to capture the image, it is suitable for use with notebook computers as well as fixed systems.
The service costs around AU$260 per user per year, including the camera. According to Greg McAnulty, SBS ebusiness services regional director, the company has chosen not to load the fixed costs associated with the service onto early adopters. McAweeney pointed out that this means even small organisations get the benefits of scale, although there is some price variation according to volume.
Commonwealth and State Government agencies have expressed interest in the system. Various pilot projects are underway, notably in the healthcare field in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. The technology is also being considered for use in at least one large-scale private-sector project.
