Biometric Security Isn’t Just a Fad; Security Executives Must Look at Evolving Solutions to Secure Enterprises

When we think of biometric security, it’s hard not to think of James Bond misleading a security system to access an underground lair. The reality, however, is that biometric security solutions are evolving, and in many cases, they are becoming commonplace—security executives must examine the growing market for solutions that fit their enterprise.

Applying layered security will allow enterprises to mitigate potential threats while harnessing benefits of biometrics such as speed and customer satisfaction. At the same time, protecting personal data will be a priority for enterprises within increasingly regulated ecosystems.

All aboard the boat—the banking industry trusts it, why don’t you?

The biometrics revolution is underway, and purveyors are shamelessly promoting its advantages in cost, swiftness, accuracy, and multi-layered defense. Enterprises need to seize biometrics’ ability to change how they work or else risk being left behind in the technological race; just check out the increasing application of biometrics in the mobile device and banking industries.

Biometrics has been slowly creeping its way into our lives. The mobile phone industry propelled the technology forward in recent years, ever since Apple first released the iPhone 5S with a fingerprint scanner.

At the time, there was the common fear that biometrics was a breach of personal privacy, but evidence suggests that the general population widely accepts the technology. For example, many mobile phone users now simply unlock their device with the touch of a finger.

The technology has also made inroads into the banking industry, with Mastercard and VISA developing technology that will allow customers to access their money from an ATM without a pin or bank card. The single-factor authentication shows both substantial trust in the technology and its deployment flexibility, given the sheer volume of compliance and regulatory pressures in the financial services industry.

Clear sailing with the right investment, see—you must spend money to make money; don’t think short term

Biometric technology has a multitude of beneficial uses that businesses can harness, but its core strength lies in the fact that everyone’s biometric reading is unique. It’s permanently with them, and they can’t leave it at home. Additionally, a biometric reading will most likely be with someone for life, unless there are significant changes to its physical characteristics.

Health industry enterprises are of biometric scans with the hope that facilities will record patient files with biometric scans to mitigate duplication and misplacement of reports. This push for standardized usage demonstrates that biometric technology has been tested and is successful—so why shouldn’t enterprises justify its use to executives?

Enterprises also hope that biometrics will reduce their costs in the future and that adoption will allow for less physical forms of identification, from credit cards to security passes. The initial installation and adoption will come at a price, but the technology will save money in the long term. Furthermore, biometric adoption will have the added side effect of being more environmentally friendly for the planet if businesses use less plastic or paper.

Waves of advancement—the technology has been established for some time now, and innovative start-ups are working on perfecting their solutions

Biometrics has advanced by leaps and bounds since its inception; different providers have continued to improve the technology to make it more secure. Organizations such as aimbrain and Veridium have increased biometric security by offering a multilayered defense. Admittedly, biometric security has some flaws in a single-layered defense (all Bond villains needed to do was pop out a rival agent’s eye to trick the iris scanner at the entrance of the secret base.)

A determined hacker can bypass a single fingerprint or face scan, just like any form of single-layer defense. Multilayered defense adds a second form of authentication and security to the biometric scan. For example, two forms of biometric scans plus a typed password or behavioral authentication increases the effective level of defense.

Veridium uses multiple finger scans to increase the complexity of the data it collects, enhancing security beyond the partial prints collected from a single print. aimbrain uses behavioral technology to support biometrics by recording your normal behavioral patterns and looking for unusual activity. Its product aimface is of particular interest; it encompasses not only facial recognition but also asks the user to verify a random verbal sequence with a limited time to respond, assuring security executives of real-time verification.

The leaps in advancement with biometric security will allow enterprises to operate smoother, more convenient, and ultimately more secure systems, facilitated with the added benefit of boosted productivity and satisfaction for end-users and customers.

Choppy water—it has pitfalls, but nothing is perfect

Biometrics has faced its fair share of criticism—its weaknesses need improvement before it becomes reliable.

For example, facial recognition has recently come under fire because hackers proved they could unlock smartphones by just holding up a photo of the real user. Ultimately the perception of the technology is just a major breach away from taking a big PR hit and dragging the industry down.

The Bottom Line: While some security executives might be skittish about implementing advanced biometric technology, the reality is that it can make your enterprise more secure and easier for the right people to navigate.

Biometric technology is a risky business. It can improve security and efficiency for enterprises and industry on a large scale. Its application and adoption levels have validated this. But despite this validation, it’s paramount that enterprises consider how to apply biometrics effectively and then carefully choose the provider they work with. The general public has so far accepted its introduction into the consumer space but deploying biometrics half-heartedly can create more vulnerability than it prevents.