At the Biometrics 2001 exhibition in London at the end of last month, security vendors showed a number of new solutions.
The two most popular technologies on show were fingerprint and face recognition, but iris, voice and dynamic signature recognition were favoured in specific areas.
'Different biometrics suit different applications and environments, so you need to look at what you want to achieve and then at the biometric systems available,' said Patricia Oldcorn, systems director for authentication specialist TSSI and a board member of the Association for Biometrics.
When choosing a biometric authentication system, firms should ask whether environmental conditions could affect the equipment, and how much user co-operation will be required to make the system work. Face and voice recognition can use a microphone and Webcam, which are fairly common low-cost peripherals, while finger scanners are now being built into some keyboards, mice and laptops.
But the co-operation needed from users may differ. Signing on a digitiser pad instead of a paper sheet is easy, for example, whereas the iris recognition system that verifies frequent fliers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport requires the traveller to stand still and peer into a box for a few seconds.
Biometric log-in procedures could also cause headaches for IT managers Ã, for example if a Webcam scanner is stolen, or a fingerprint reader attached to a PC fails.
'Every biometric has its inconveniences, and you need a backup method,' said Leo Vonck, of security integrator Keyware. A password is one option, he said, but another possibility is to use multiple biometrics, such as voice, face and fingerprint recognition. Each could be weighted so that if two tests are passed, then the third is not needed, for example.
Multiple biometrics could also reduce the probability of false negative and false positive identification, according to Mathias Voight, vice president of sales for computer vision developer Cognitec.
The dilemma is that while increasing sensitivity allows more accurate identification Ã, Voight said that Cognitec's system can differentiate between identical twins Ã, it also increases the false rejection rate. Conversely, decreasing the sensitivity increases the chances of false positive identification.
But by adding a second independent biometric device, the sensitivity of each can be reduced to lower the number of false rejections, without increasing the overall likelihood of a false positive.
'I think the enterprise market will ask for combinations of biometrics,' commented Voight. 'There will be solutions for fingerprint and face recognition Ã, that is the most important combination.'
Fingerprints are the most popular biometric for verification, because 'a fingerprint can be more accurately positioned than a face', said Oldcorn. But she warned that every biometric has limitations. For example, equipment may not be able to get a useful fingerprint scan from people working with abrasives or acids, and some drugs can affect the iris and hamper recognition systems that use this method.
But biometric security is moving down from the high end of the market. 'It has to,' said Cognitec's Voight. 'In 10 years or so, even consumers will have a biometric solution somewhere in their living room.'
