SYNOPSIS FOR SEMINAR

TOPIC:-
An Overview of Biometrics













BIOMETRICS
Biometrics are automated methods of identifying a person or verifying the identity
of a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic for security
purpose.

Behavioral
Traits that are learned or acquired from a person

Physiological
A physical attribute unique to a person


NEED FOR BIOMETRICS
Accurate and automatic identification and authentication of users is a fundamental
problem in network environment.
Authentication the process of verifying that a user requesting a network resource
is who he, she, or it claims to be, and vice versa.
Conventional authentication methods
something that you have key, magnetic card or smartcard
something that you know PIN or password
Biometric authentication uses personal features something that you
are
Of these, a biometric is the most secure and convenient authentication tool. It
can't be borrowed stolen, or forgotten, and forging one is practically impossible.




What Makes a Biometric Work?

Characteristics of a biometric that must be present in order to use the
system for authentication purposes:-

Uniqueness - The same trait will not appear in
two people
Universality - The trait has to occur in many
people as possible
Permanence - The trait does not change over
time
Measurability - The trait can be measured with
Simple technical instruments
User friendliness - The trait is easily measured
with minimal discomfort


HOW DOES A BIOMETRIC SYSTEM WORK?
CAPTURE: A physical or behavioral sample is captured by the system.
EXTRACTION: Unique data is extracted from the sample and a template
is created.
COMPARISON: The template(processed data)is then compared with the
existing templates(stored during time of installment of biometric device).
DECISION: The system then decides if the features extracted matched or
not.




COMPONENTS OF BIOMETRIC DEVICES
Basically it has 3 components:
An automated mechanism that sees and captures image of a persons
characteristic or records it(in case of voice).
Another identity handles compression, processing, storage and comparison
of the captured data with the stored data.
The third is application system interface (API).
To put it in simpler words hardware, software and operating system







Type of Biometrics

Biometrics can also be defined as either Passive or Active.

Passive biometrics do not require a users active participation and can be
successful without a person even knowing that they have been analyzed
Example:- Facial recognition


Active biometrics however, do require a person cooperation and will not
work if they deny their participation in the process.
Example:-All Fingerprint technologies, Hand geometry technologies, Retina
scanning Technologies, Signature recognition Technologies

Biometric characteristics can be divided in two main classes
Physiological are related to the shape of the body. Examples:- fingerprint,
face recognition, DNA, Palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition

Behavioral are related to the behavior of a person. Examples: -voice,
signature etc.

BIOMETRIC TRAITS
Fingerprint
Hand geometry
Eye(iris and retina patterns)
Facial features
Voice
Signature



FINGERPRINTS
Fingerprint i.e. finger scanning is one of the most commercially successful and
popular biometric technologies in use today.
Finger scanning technique involves analysis of small unique marks of the finger
image known as minutae.Minutae occur at points such as finger image ridges,
endings or bifurcations, branches made by ridges. The relative positions of minutae
are used for comparison. Two individuals cannot have more than 7 common
minutae points.A typical fingerprint consists of 30-40 minutae.

A typical fingerprint image.Note the extracted minutae points(green squares).
Advantages
Mature technology
Easy to use/non-intrusive
High accuracy (comparable to PIN authentication)
Comparatively low cost
Disadvantages
Inability to enrol some users
Affected by skin condition
Sensor may get dirty

HAND GEOMETRY
While measuring it, a 3D image of the hand is taken and the shape and length of
fingers and knuckles are measured.
During the capture process a user places a hand on the reader, aligning fingers with
specially positioned guides. Cameras positioned above and on side of hand capture
image prints.
Hand geometry is not found to be unique , specific features must be combined to
assure dynamic verification.

Hand with biometric measurements visualised.
Disadvantages
Low accuracy
High cost
Difficult to use for some users (children, arthritis, missing fingers or
large hands)


EYE
It gives highest levels of accuracy and it can be divided into two categories:
1.) Iris recognition
2.)Retina pattern

IRIS:
The iris is a protected internal organ of the eye behind the cornea and the aqueous
humour.It is a colored ring of textured tissue that surrounds the pupil of the eye.
Complex iris pattern is used for authentication

VISUALISATION OF IRIS SCAN AND EXTRACTED IRIS CODE
RETINA
The retina is a layer of blood vessels situated at the back of eye. As with iris it
forms a unique pattern and begins to decay quickly after death. The only problem
faced by this method is that capturing the retina pattern is cumbersome and some
people may not like it otherwise it is highly reliable.
Advantages
o Potential for high accuracy
o Long term stability
o Fast processing
o Patterns can be acquired from a distance (1m)
o Not affected by contact lenses or glasses
o Highly protected, internal organ of the eye
o Genetic independence: identical twins have different iris patterns
Disadvantages
o Some people think the state of health can be detected
o High cost


Face Recognition
Facial recognition systems are built on computer programs that analyze images of
human faces for the purpose of identifying them. The programs take a facial image,
measure characteristics such as the distance between the eyes, the length of the
nose, and the angle of the jaw, and create a unique file called a "template." Using
templates, the software then compares that image with another image and produces
a score that measures how similar the images are to each other.
Disadvantages
o Affected by appearance and environment
o Low accuracy
o Identical twins attack


Voice
Voice recognition technology utilizes the distinctive aspects of the voice to verify
the identityof individuals. Voice recognition is occasionally confused with speech
recognition, a technology which translates what a user is saying (a process
unrelated to authentication). Voice recognition technology, by contrast, verifies the
identity of the individual who is speaking.
Disadvantages
o Pre-recorded attack
o Variability of the voice (ill or drunk)
o Affected by background noise
o Low accuracy


Signature
Signature verification is the process used to recognize an individuals hand-
written signature. This is done by analyzing the shape, speed, stroke, pen
pressure and timing information during the act of signing. Natural and intuitive,
the technology is easy to explain and trust




Which biometric method / product is best?
depends on :-
cost
size of sensor
Does the application need identification or authentication?
Is the collection point attended or unattended?
Are the users used to the biometrics?
Are the subjects cooperative or non-cooperative?
What are the storage requirement constraints?
How strict are the performance requirements?
What types of biometrics are acceptable to the users?


Multi-Modal:

Multimodal biometric systems are those that utilize more than one physiological or
behavioral characteristic for enrollment, verification, or authentication.
Multi-modal biometric systems are looked to as a
means of reducing false non-match and false match rates,increase the level of
security achieved by the system


APPLICATION OF BIOMETRICS

Access control in computer, net resource, role and network access.
National identity cards and biometric passports.
Banking sector like ATMs and internet banking, net access or even
telephone access.
Physical access control of buildings, areas, doors and cars.

Examples:-
The Suzuki concept car uses biometric authorization technique.
In AUDIA8 the one touch memory recognizes the driver by their fingerprint and
automatically adjusts the seating position, radio station settings and volume
settings accordingly!!!


FUTURE OF BIOMETRICS
A system that analyses body odour is under development. Each human
smell consists different amount of volatiles
Currently DNA testing by latest methods takes at least 10 minutes and
ergo it cannot be taken as a biometric tool, but it holds a great promise in
the future.
Ear shape is also considered to be unique and the technology involved is
currently under development.

CONCLUSION
The goal is to provide a more secure working environment in a cost
effective and user friendly way.