The Science of Biometrics

Security Technology for Identity Verification

Ravindra Das

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781498761246
• eBook ISBN: 9780429946363
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Cyber Security
• Index: Computer Science

The Science of Biometrics: Security Technology for Identity Verification covers the technical aspects of iris and facial recognition, focusing primarily on the mathematical and statistical algorithms that run the verification and identification processes in these two modalities.

Each chapter begins with a review of the technologies, examining how they work, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as some of their established market applications. Numerous approaches are examined. Facial recognition is much more of an emerging biometric technology than iris recognition; therefore, there are more algorithms that are currently being developed in that area. After this review, numerous applications of these two modalities are covered as well, some of which have just been commercially deployed while others are under research and development. Chapters 3 and 4 conclude with case studies to provide further application review.

This book is directed to security managers, electronic security system designers, consultants, and system integrators, as well as electronic security system manufacturers working in access control and biometrics.

1|Introduction

Overview of Biometric Technology: Authentication, Biocryptography, and Cloud-Based Architecture

So far in this sequence on biometric technology, we have published two books. The first one is entitled Biometric Technology: Authentication, Biocryptography, and Cloud-Based Architecture and the second book is entitled Adopting Biometric Technology: Challenges and Solutions.

Both of these works examine the use of Biometric Technology from both a technical and social perspective. Obviously, if two books can be written and created upon this security tool, it must have a huge impact on society in general, and especially upon the citizens here in the United States.

As I have suggested in both pieces of works, if one were to critically examine biometric technology on a spectrum in comparison with the other security mechanisms which are available upon to us today, it would rank very high (if not the highest) in terms of curiosity, understanding, and social impacts. To illustrate this point, consider your everyday lifestyle.

You get up at a certain time to go to work, you perform your job functions according to a daily schedule, you return home, spend time with your family, and get ready yet once again for the next work day. Then there are of course the weekends, which are available to us to catch up on personal matters and chores around our household.

From the moment that we get up, we are faced with security. When we take a shower, we can lock the bathroom door, and when we leave our place of residence, we make sure that the main doors are locked and made secure as well.

We unlock our cars, and when arrive at our place of employment we often have to prove our identity. This can be done merely by showing our identification badge, or, if the business or organization is sophisticated enough as well, they might employ a smart-card-based system.

With this technology, our personal information and data are stored in the memory bank of the smart card, and this is all confirmed by the smart card reader as we swipe it into the electromagnetic slide at the turnstile.

When we arrive at our workstation, we have yet another barrier of security to go through. This is primarily done by entering our username and password combination on our computer. This of course just gives us authority to access resources at the local level.

If we need to access confidential and proprietary information at a more granular level (for instance, gaining access to a particular network drive), we then have to establish and enter a whole new suite of usernames and passwords.

This goes on the entire workday. If we have to conduct virtual meetings and the like, there are yet more usernames and passwords to be entered. Then as the workday comes to an end, we walk to our car, and unlock it. As we proceed to step out and enter our respective homes, there is yet another layer of security we have to go through, which is unlocking the door lock.

But, if we choose to implement a multimodal security solution (such as an ADT burglar alarm), we have to quickly remember to disarm it.

Then as the weekend fast approaches, we face yet another host of security to go through as we set out to fulfill our objectives. For example, if we choose to fly to a particular destination, we will have to go through the security mechanisms at the airport, which will involve primarily walking through a magnetometer, and having our driver’s license or even passport scrutinized in order to confirm and validate our identity.

Of course, our shoes will have to be scanned as well in order to assure the security officials that we do not have a bomb in them.

But if we choose to stay around our locales for the weekend, we still face security measures to go through as well. For instance, if we go grocery shopping, if we choose to purchase our products with a check, we will have to establish our identity to the cashier by showing our driver’s license yet again, or even a state-issued identification card.

Or if we choose to attend a large-scale social event (such as a concert, sports festival, or other type of get-together which involves a lot of people) the chances are high that we will have to show our infamous driver’s license yet once again, and even walk through a magnetometer.

Now, in these examples just illustrated assume that the average person is in a non-technology-related job. But, what if this particular individual is in a career which relates to security technology? Obviously then he or she will be involved in installing, deploying, configuring, and even troubleshooting these devices on a daily basis.

For example, this could be having a direct interface with network security items such as firewalls (which inspect for and prohibit malformed data packets entering into the network infrastructure of a place of business or organization); network intrusion devices (these types of technologies sniff out and detect threats occurring in a particular network segment, isolate them, and mitigate the risk or threat), or even routers (these devices route the flow of data packets on a given network trunk securely and safely via the use of mathematically based routing tables).

The point of all this is that, whether it is just the average person or even a certified and educated security professional, we do not even think twice about the security measures we face each and every single day.

For example, as you enter your username and password into your employer’s workstation, do you think twice about it (except for the frustration and anger which it will cause if indeed you do forget your password, and have to have it reset again – but this time with a much longer and more complex one)? For sure you do not, it just becomes a routine part of everyday professional life.

Or what about those days in which you go to a grocery store to pay by check and you are asked to show your state-issued identification card … do you think twice about that? Probably not, other than the fact it is just a pure hassle and perhaps a waste of time, particularly if you are in a rush to be at your next destination.

Or what if you are attending a large social event such as the ones just described, do you ever think twice to ponder about the levels of security which are implemented there? Once again, probably not here either. The only thought that is transpiring in your mind is why is so much security needed, and how soon can I get to my reserved spot?

In terms of the security professional, when dealing with the types of technologies just detailed, they do not even entertain a second thought about it. Why is this so? Well of course, he or she deals with them on a daily basis.

In other words, to them, it is second nature, and no extra thought is needed or required. In reality though, the only other thought that would enter his or her mind is if the layers of security which they have been deployed and implemented will be enough to thwart any cyber-related threats to the business or organization by which they are employed.

Then why is it when we compare all of these typical scenarios with that of biometric technology, it gets the highest level of scrutinization? Well, as these two books have examined and explained as well, when we register ourselves with a particular biometric system, it is a piece or a snapshot of our individual selves which is being captured, in order to help confirm our identity at a later point in time.

For example, from the standpoint of physiologically based biometric technologies (which are also known simply as physical biometrics), it could be an image of our fingerprint, vein pattern, face, eyes (in particular either the retina or the iris), hand shape, or even our voice which is being captured.

From the standpoint of behaviorally based biometric technologies (which are also known simply as behavioral biometrics), it could be mannerisms in the way we sign our name or even type on a computer which could be captured.

If you take some time to think about it, no other type of security technology does this – not even firewalls, network intrusion devices or even routers. it is only biometric technology which does this. This is one of the major reasons why we are so intrigued by it, fascinated by it, or even scared by it.

We have no control over those images which are being captured or even recorded upon us.

What compounds this fear even more is that once the raw image (this specific term has been used in both books – it merely refers to the physiological or behavioral image which is being captured by the Biometric system) is captured, we have no idea as to how it will be processed, computed, and even stored into a database.

It is this latter situation which causes one of the highest levels of apprehension.

For instance, we do not know by what methods the biometric templates (these are the mathematical files which are computed from the raw images) will be stored, how they will be protected from cyber-attacks, or even, worst yet, if they will be used maliciously by some third party, such as the Federal Government, when it comes to purposes of practicing high levels of law enforcement.

Also, when compared to the other types of security technologies which are available today (once again, routers, firewalls, and the network intrusion devices), there is a fundamental lack of understanding of what biometric technology is truly all about.

Of course, this same type of hypothesis could be very easily extended as well to the network security technologies just described, but yet once again it is biometric technology which gets picked at over and over again.

Also, then there comes the issue of the societal impacts which biometric technology has upon the citizens of the world. Truth be told, as was examined in the second book, many nations and their respective governments are actually quite accepting and even exuberant when it comes time to deploying and implementing a biometrics-based infrastructure for their country, whether it is for e-passports, e-voting, border security, a national ID card scheme, or even to fortify the existing wide area network (WAN) or even a local area network (LAN).

This trend appears to be occurring quite heavily and rapidly in the developing nations. This is primarily due to the fact that the use of biometric technology gives the citizens of these developing nations a sense of self-worth, fulfillment, and most importantly, knowing that they are actually recognized as unique and single citizens in the eyes of their own government, especially when it comes to receiving their particular allotted government entitlements and benefits.

But, in the developed nations, such as those of Europe, Australia, and the United States in particular, the societal impacts are much stronger, and also very negative. As also examined in quite a bit of detail in the second book, the primary reason for this is that as citizens of the United States, we are endowed with certain inalienable rights which are guaranteed to us by our very own Constitution.

For example, some of these include the rights to privacy, freedom, the ability to vote for whom we choose at the time of elections, and to pretty much lead our lives the way we want to as long as it does not intrude upon the rights or the welfare of our fellow citizens. Because of this fact, we can claim that using biometric technology intrudes upon our said rights and freedoms.

In other words, we can lay the foundation for the argument that biometric technology is a sheer intrusion upon our civil liberties and privacy rights. This stands in stark opposition to the citizens of the developing nations, where such freedoms and rights have no guarantee or place in those respective societies.

Thus, this the primary reason that the social acceptance of biometric technology in these specific geographic regions is so high – because it helps to give these citizens such cherished rights as we enjoy here in the United States.

But, because we are already guaranteed all of this by our Constitution, we can totally decry the use of biometric technology with a great margin of comfort, still knowing that there are certain mechanisms in place which will guarantee us that no matter what, we will still be counted as unique and single citizens by our own Federal Government, and that no matter what events transpire in our life (of course to a certain degree), we will still be able to claim and receive our entitlements and benefits.

And if we do not receive them in a timely manner, there are certain legal recourses established for us by which we can still receive them, albeit at a later point in time.

As mentioned, although the traditional security technologies (which include those from the standpoint of both physical- and logical-based access) will continue to serve individuals, partnerships, corporations, organizations and businesses worldwide, it will be biometric technology which will come to the forefront in the future. This is primarily due to a number of reasons, which include the following:

•In terms of logical access entry, the use of the username and password combination is also becoming counterproductive to any types of security measures. For example, corporations and businesses are now mandating the use of complex passwords which are very difficult for the end-user to remember. This is so because passwords are now the main targets of covert cyber-attacks, and can be easily guessed in just a matter of seconds with the right hacking technologies. And with much longer and more complex passwords, employee...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Review of Biometrics
• 3 Iris Recognition
• 4 Facial Recognition
• 5 Final Conclusions
• Index