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Adding Biometrics to Enterprise Security Arsenal

Warriors have long used emblems, uniforms and tattoos to physically identify themselves to their compatriots. Secret passwords were in use long before the first person logged in at a keyboard. Today, the world of enterprise security is increasingly incorporating biometric identifiers as an additional weapon within the security arsenal. International Biometric Group, a New York […]

Written By
Drew Robb
Drew Robb
Published: Oct 18, 2005
Updated: Jan 28, 2021
6 minute read
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Warriors have long used emblems, uniforms and tattoos to physically

identify themselves to their compatriots. Secret passwords were in use

long before the first person logged in at a keyboard.

Today, the world of enterprise security is increasingly incorporating

biometric identifiers as an additional weapon within the security

arsenal.

International Biometric Group, a New York City-based consulting firm,

reports that the worldwide market for biometric devices grew 67 percent

last year to reach $1.2 billion. And analysts there estimate a further

expansion to $4.6 billion by 2008.

The largest share of that money (48 percent) goes for fingerprint

recognition systems, followed by facial recognition (12 percent). While

these two are the most popular, there are other methods that analyze a

person’s physical or dynamic characteristics. Physical biometric

methodologies also look at:

  • Eyes — Examining the lines of the iris or the blood vessels
    in the retina;
  • Hands — Taking a 3D image and measuring the height and width
    of bones and joints, and
  • Skin — Analyzing surface texture and thickness of skin layers.
    ”When looking at strong authentication, you want two out of three
    factors — something you have, something you are and something you
    know,” says Eric Oullet, vice president in Gartner, Inc’s security
    research group.
    While, eyes, hands and skin are commonly used as biometric identifiers,
    more dynamic methodologies also are being introduced, such as:
  • Voice — Detects vocal pitch and rhythm;
  • Keystroke Dynamics — Analyzes the typing speed and rhythm
    when the user ID and password are entered;
  • Signature — Matches the signature to one on record, as well
    as analyzing the speed and pressure used while writing, and
  • Gait — Measures length of stride and its rhythm.
    To keep performance high and storage requirements manageable, today’s
    biometric technologies do not have to store or analyze a complete picture
    of the body part or the physical feature being used. Imagine the
    processing power that would be needed to store a high resolution picture
    of someone’s face and then compare it with a live image pixel by pixel.
    Instead, each method reduces the body part or activity to a few
    essential parameters and then codes the data, typically as a series of
    hash marks.
    For example, a facial recognition system may record only the shape of the
    nose and the distance between the eyes. That’s all the data that needs to
    be recorded for an individual’s passport, for example.
    When that person comes through customs, the passport doesn’t have to
    include all the data required to reproduce a full-color picture of the
    person. Yet, armed with a tiny dose of key biometric information, video
    equipment at the airport can tell whether the person’s eyes are closer
    together or if his nose is slightly wider than the passport says they
    should be.
    None of these biometric systems are infallible, of course, though the
    rates of false negatives and false positives have markedly improved. One
    of the problems with fingerprint readers, for instance, is that they
    couldn’t distinguish between an actual fingerprint and the image of one.
    In the recent movie National Treasure, Nicholas Cage’s character
    lifted someone’s fingerprint off a champagne glass and used it to gain
    access to a vault. That is not pure fiction.
    Japanese cryptographer Tsutomu Matsumoto lifted a fingerprint off a sheet
    of glass and, following a series of steps, created gelatin copies. He
    then tested these on 11 fingerprint readers and each accepted the gelatin
    prints.
    Outside the lab, Malaysian thieves chopped the fingertip off a
    businessman and used it with the fingerprint reader on his Mercedes. But
    none of those methods would work with higher-end fingerprint readers.
    ”The latest fingerprint readers are incorporating more advanced
    features, such as making sure the finger is a certain temperature,” says
    Ouellet. ”Everyone’s hand is different, as some are consistently warm or
    cold. In addition, they can also check if there is a pulse and tell how
    much pressure is being applied.”
    Such sophistication, however, has its drawbacks.
    Authorized users may find themselves locked out even when the devices are
    working properly. Why? Tiny changes, due to accidents or injuries, can
    change a biometrics profile, rendering it effectively obsolete.
    ”The thing to keep in mind with any biometrics is that your ID does
    change over time,” Ouellet says. ”If you cut your finger, your
    biometric may not be the same any more. Or your early morning voice is
    different than after talking for eight hours.”
    Biometrics in the Enterprise
    While biometric authentication certainly adds an extra layer of security,
    it would be a mistake to implement a high-end system and then feel that
    break ins instantly would be consigned to the history books. It takes
    back-end integration, constant vigilance and consistent user involvement
    to keep an enterprise secure.
    ”We feel security is a user issue and must go all the way to the
    desktop,” says Stan Gatewood, chief information security officer at the
    University of Georgia, Athens. ”Our philosophy is to do defense in
    depth. We have a very layered architecture and assume that any layer will
    fail some day.”
    The most popular biometric tool at the moment is the fingerprint reader.
    Some even use USB drives. And some keyboards and laptops come with them
    built in. These devices have come way down in price. As a standalone
    device, the unit price has dropped below $100. But, in an enterprise
    setting, that is just the start of the costs.
    ”Often, companies look at biometrics as being ultrasexy, cool
    technology, but they forget that there are integration issues,” says
    Oullet.
    IT departments have to ensure, for example, that back-end security
    systems can accommodate biometric authentication, and scale to the
    required number of users. Plus, if fingerprint readers are not
    incorporated into the laptop or desktop, it adds to the number of devices
    that need to be supported by IT.
    There is little point, then, in adopting a stand-alone biometrics system
    that cannot easily be assimilated into the organization’s existing
    security fabric.
    ”Security is no longer something you can address as an afterthought,”
    says Brett Rushton, vice president of strategic services for network
    consulting firm Calence, Inc. in Tempe, Ariz. ”It needs to be built into
    the infrastructure to deal with pervasive threats.”
    The good news is that the biometric authorization techniques are no
    longer so leading edge that they are difficult to marry with traditional
    security safeguards. Today’s systems are well enough developed that they
    can be incorporated into enterprise systems without too much effort.
    ”A strong authentication system is what you want to focus on and
    biometrics can be part of it,” says Oullet. ”But the user should still
    have to memorize something or have a token, and you need to make sure
    that polices and the management structure relating to it are firmly in
    place.”  SEE ALL
    ARTICLES      
Drew Robb

Originally from Scotland, Drew Robb has been a full-time writer for more than 25 years. He lives in Florida and specializes in IT, engineering, and business. As well as eWeek and TechRepublic, he writes for a wide range of magazines including Gas Turbine World, SDxCentral, and HR Magazine. He is the author of Server Disk Management in a Windows Environment (Auerbach Publications).

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