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Has New Technology Made Biometric Authentication Obsolete

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Has biometric authentication become outdated as a result of new technology? No, is the short answer. Users should, however, ensure that they go beyond device-level biometrics to precisely validate identification at each access point. As capabilities get more advanced, biometric authentication is becoming a major issue in the identity verification industry. Depending on the program, users can authenticate their identities using geo-location, social network accounts, fingerprints, iris scans, and even facial recognition.

While biometric identification is becoming increasingly utilized in enterprises, consumer adoption of mobile phones is unquestionably leading the way. Fingerprint and face recognition technologies are two of the most prevalent device-level biometrics.

 

What are device level fingerprint and facial recognition biometrics?

Fingerprint:

Fingerprint scanners are already built into many mobile devices, from tablets to smartphones, and can read this type of biometric. Fingerprint scanners are a popular type of authentication for access to physical devices and as part of multi-factor authentication systems since they are reasonably simple to set up.

 

Face Recognition:

Facial scans are now used by many iPhones and laptops. An embedded camera will snap a photo or video of a person’s face and compare it to unique scanning data.

 

What are the limitations of biometrics at the device level?

When you use facial scans or fingerprints to log in, you are not establishing your identity. It is, for example, feasible to use Face ID on your iPhone to add several faces. What exactly is the problem here? The problem is that if numerous faces can log into a single Face ID, you have no way of knowing who is behind the login.

 

How can live biometrics overcome device-level biometrics’ limitations?

Live biometrics effectively asks the user to show that they are alive. This may be used during account registration and on boarding to guarantee that a user is a genuine person, not a bot or someone attempting to impersonate them.

When registering a user, live biometrics employs the front-facing camera (selfie camera) on the mobile device to record a video of the user. Live biometrics may be used to verify that the person in front of the mobile device is still alive, snap a selfie to establish an identity match, and authenticate the user.

 

What are the benefits of using advanced biometrics rather than device-level biometrics for authentication?

High Accuracy

Biometric authentication methods use a person’s unique bodily traits to identify them quickly, consistently, and precisely. They’ve already become crucial for identification verification in a variety of government agencies, banks, and financial organizations.

Because biometric qualities are difficult to fake or steal, biometric systems give a better level of security than traditional means of authentication, such as passwords. When it comes to identifying people, such as workers and customers, biometric authentication technology is extremely accurate.

Convenience

Behavioural and physical factors used for biometric verification are not vulnerable to damage and unexpected alterations. As a result, biometric verification provides a consistent and trustworthy technique of identification.

Biometric authentication is rapid, user-friendly, difficult to counterfeit, inexpensive, and requires little user training because it accesses particular features of the individual to recognize them for trustworthy verification.

Multiple Use Cases

Biometric technology is already in use in several countries for voter registration, national identity, national healthcare, and e-passports, and it has the potential to be used in a wide range of industries and applications.

In remote user access and card, not present transactions, biometric authentication has shown to be one of the best and most appropriate alternatives for authenticating users. The most typical use cases include identity verification for new account creation, secure logins to prevent account takeover, and fraud protection for financial transactions.

(The author Mr.Robert MacDonald, Vice President of Product Marketing, 1Kosmos and the views expressed in this article are his own)

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