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And heightened security of
airports, borders and sensitive facilities is the focus of a
world newly awakened to the threat of global terrorism.
Countries and companies want
security that is harder to fool than systems that rely on
passwords and Personal Identification Numbers (Pin).
Enter biometrics. The highly hyped
technology relies on physical unique characteristics such as
fingerprints, facial patterns or the pattern of the iris in
the eye to make sure users are who they say they are.
Rush of interest
"September 11 brought the
biometric marketplace and their technologies to the
forefront," said Richard Ouaknine, with the
International Biometric Group.
"Everyone realised
globally that there is a greater need for improved security
and additional methods of security aside from traditional
passwords, tokens and so forth," he added.
Biometrics is an industry in its
infancy, worth between $240m to $400m, according to Brian
Ruttenbur, senior vice president and equity research analyst
of Morgan Keegan & Company.
Following the attacks of 11
September, stocks in biometrics companies rose 130%, he
said.
Both the US and UK Governments are
exploring biometrics as a way to increase security of
computer systems, as well as at airports, military
facilities and government offices.
The Home Office in the UK is
looking into systems that speed passage through immigration.
Biometric locks even guard the offices of US Vice President Dick Cheney.
Eye IDs
The public will soon be seeing
biometrics systems at airports and in enhanced travel
documents that the US Government is requiring by 2004.
EyeTicket's JetStream system,
which uses the pattern of the iris in the eye for
identification, was part of a test programme at London's
Heathrow Airport.
The hope is that the system will
speed passage of overseas visitors through immigration,
cutting the time for processing from an average of 10
minutes to 10 seconds.
Biometrics company Saflink has a
fingerprint recognition system coupled with a proximity
sensor.
Computer users sign-in to their
computers by scanning their fingers. Once they step away
from their terminal, the system automatically locks the
computer down.
Competition
Right now, it is a battle not only
between rival companies but also rival technologies.
Fingerprint, facial recognition
and fingerprint scanning are just a few technologies vying
for government funding.
Iris scanning advocates say that
their system is difficult to trick because of the complexity
of the iris.
They say that the system can even
detect false iris patterns printed on contact lenses because
of visual artefacts left by the inkjet technology used to
print such lenses.
But privacy advocates question the
accuracy of various biometric technologies and have voiced
concerns about the how information linked to biometric
identifiers will be used.
Some people have been resistant to
fingerprint scanning as it is associated with criminal
activity.
Facial scanning got a black eye
when it was used without alerting game goers at the
Superbowl, the championship game of the National Football
League in the US.
But biometrics boosters say that
Americans are now willing to trade some of their privacy for
increased security.
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