Finally It’s Time To Say Goodbye to Keys and Passwords With Biometrics

Surely you’ve seen it in many movies. A scientist works on a top-secret project and uses a retina scanner to access his laboratory.  Maybe you already use your fingerprint to go through the lathes of your gym. You may even unlock your phone with your own face. These are all examples of Biometrics, a discipline that promises to make keys and passwords go down in history.

Biometrics consists of the study of physical or behavioral parameters that allow a person to be identified. It is, no more and no less, what we all do when we meet someone and we recognize him:

• his height,
• his voice,
• his facial features
• even his behavior
• help us to know who we are greeting, because these are all ingredients that make that person is unique. 
• Under normal conditions, humans do this whole process quickly and without knowing it. Machines, however, cannot do it alone. So we are teaching them how to do it.  

Biometrics-Serial master key

 That each person has indicators that make them unique makes biometrics a real opportunity in the field of security. This means that a machine can be made to confirm a person’s identity simply by being present. To operate with your bank or even open the door of your house, you will not have to do anything other than stand in front of an ATM or put your index finger on the smart lock of your home.

The best-known parameters that can be used to identify that person are their facial features, the iris of their eyes, or fingerprints. In fact, the latter has been used for thousands of years: the Babylonians had stamped their hands 4,000 years ago to sign contracts, and the modern system of fingerprint recognition began to be used as early as the 19th century.

The features that give us away

 Of course, the features that make us unique are so numerous that biometrics is not only left to recognize a fingerprint or the iris pattern. We can also be easily recognized by the shape of our ears, our body odor, the shape and structure of the veins in our hands, and even by the pattern of our heartbeat.

Our own voice also says much more about us than we think:

its unique characteristics bring together more than 100 unequivocal physical and behavioral traits, such as the length of the vocal tract, the nasal passage, the tone or the accent. In fact, studying the way we walk, move our eyes or gesture is another source of information that can be used to find out if we are who we say we are. 

Biometrics in our daily life

 The applications of Biometrics technology in our day to day are very wide. For example, we can already go to the ATM and use our face to withdraw money: the same device is capable of validating more than 16,000 points on our face to ensure our identification. In addition to being a totally secure method because it requires the person to be present, it prevents us from having to memorize different passwords and streamlines operations.

Electronic passports that are currently issued also include some biometric parameters. In fact, they have an RFID chip on the back that allows the holder to be identified without having to pass it through a reader. It stores our digitized image, the fingerprints of the two index fingers, and our biographical data.

And speaking of passports, it won’t soon be necessary to show them to travel by plane. This will be the case for passengers traveling from Dubai International Airport, which will use a facial recognition and iris scanning system to identify them. 

Travelers will only have to walk through the terminal to access the plane through a ”Biometric route” that covers departures, arrivals, transit, chauffeured driving connections, and access to VIP lounges. Forgetting the boarding pass will not be a problem either, because it will no longer be necessary Among the most striking trends in Biometrics is the use of the heart for such common uses as opening doors or starting the car. There are already portable devices that monitor the user’s heartbeat and use it as a unique Biometric marker to identify the user.

Sensors have even been developed that are installed in car seats and evaluate parameters such as changes in the driver’s heart rate or respiratory rate. If they resemble those of a sleeping person, the car will issue warnings to prevent the driver from suffering a drowsiness accident and, if necessary, take over driving.

Conclusion:

Biometrics Security is already part of our lives and it is expected that in the coming years it will experience a spectacular development. In addition to gaining in security, its use will allow us to considerably improve our experiences. when operating with the bank, shopping, traveling, and a host of other everyday situations. We will soon forget to look for the keys in all pockets or remember that password with numbers, letters, and special characters. It will be enough if we look at a camera or, simply, let our hearts be in charge of opening the door of the beach house.

Also read: What Is SIEM And What Is It For?