BIOMETRICS TECHNOLOGIES AND ID THEFT
PREVENTION IN NIGERIA
BY
DEPARTMENT OF STATE SERVICES
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
AT
THE INTERNATIONAL CYBER SECURITY AND POLICING CONFERENCE (c0c0n 2015)
KERALA, INDIA (20TH & 21ST, AUGUST, 2015)
ORDER OF PRESENTATION
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Introduction
Important Characteristics of Biometrics Technologies
Types of Biometrics
Some Biometrics Technologies
Benefits of Biometrics Technologies
Concerns Over the Application of Biometrics Technologies
by Stakeholders
Combating ID Theft (Nigeria)
Enactment of the Nigeria Cybercrime Act 2015
Suggestions
Conclusion
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INTRODUCTION
 Every human being has some intrinsic physical or
behavioral characteristics that are peculiar to him or her.
A typical example is fingerprints which are permanent
and different for each individual.
It has been established that even identical twins do not
have identical fingerprints.
INTRODUCTION (Cont’d...)
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 Technology, in the name of biometrics,
is now taking advantage of these
measurable biological characteristics or
traits of human beings to develop
systems that automatically identify
people uniquely.
 The uniqueness of identification that
biometrics provides is making the latter
a useful tool in transaction and secure
processing systems where trust is of
utmost importance. .
www.google.com/images
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INTRODUCTION (Cont’d...)
 Biometrics can be used in almost any application
that requires the accurate identification of an
individual.
This ranges from computers, where a fingerprint scan
on the keyboard can verify the identity of a user, to
nuclear power plants where various biometrics are
used to restrict access to critical systems.
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INTRODUCTION (Cont’d...)
In Nigeria, Patent
fingerprinting constitutes
the core of biometric
authentication systems
used in such areas as Voters'
Registration, National
Identity Cards, Electronic
Passports, Banking
transactions and Access
Control, among others.
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www.google.com/images
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INTRODUCTION (Cont’d...)
Though the early adoption of biometrics was centred
mainly on fingerprints, attention is currently shifting
to incorporate other human physical characteristics
such as face, iris, palm, voice, etc.
www.google.com/images
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IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS
 In determining the suitability of biometric
technologies, the following factors or
characteristics should be considered and
evaluated:
Universality.
Uniqueness.
Permanence.
Collectability.
Performance.
Acceptability.
Circumvention.
www.google.com/images
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TYPES OF BIOMETRICS
Chemical Biometrics – These
are genetic characteristics
found in a person’s blood or
other related segments. An
example of chemical
biometrics is the
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
matching.This is the
identification of an individual
using the analysis of segments
from DNA.
www.google.com/images
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TYPES OF BIOMETRICS (Cont’d...)
Physiological Biometric –
These are characteristics
found in a person’s palm,
fingers, iris and voice, as
shown in the examples below:
Ear.
Eyes: Iris Recognition
Eyes: Retina Recognition
Face Recognition.
Fingerprint Recognition.
www.google.com/images
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TYPES OF BIOMETRICS (Cont’d...)
PHYSIOLOGICAL/SPATIAL
BIOMETRICS FINGER GEOMETRY
RECOGNITION.
HAND GEOMETRY
RECOGNITION
www.google.com/images
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TYPES OF BIOMETRICS (Cont’d...)
Behavioral Biometrics – These are
characteristics found in a person’s
handwriting or keyboard keystrokes.
Examples include:
GAIT.
TYPING RECOGNITION.
Physiological/Behavioural Biometric
SIGNATURE
RECOGNITION
The
authentication of an individual by the
analysis of handwriting style, in particular
the signature.
www.google.com/images
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SOME BIOMETRICS TECHNOLOGIES
SIGNATURE VERIFICATION
HAND & FINGER GEOMETRY
FACE RECOGNITION DEVICE
IRIS SCANNING DEVICE
www.google.com/images
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BENEFITS OF BIOMETRICS TECHNOLOGIES
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Below are among the numerous benefits of biometrics
application:
Biometrics provides suitable applications for improving airport security,
strengthening national borders, in travel documents, visas and in
preventing ID theft.
Biometrics is gradually becoming socially acceptable and inexpensive in
some cases.
The promises of e-commerce and e-government can be achieved through
the utilization of strong personal authentication procedures. Secure
electronic banking, investments and other financial transactions, retail
sales, health and social services are already benefiting from these
technologies.
BENEFITS OF BIOMETRICS TECHNOLOGIES
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(Cont’d…)
 Biometrics can be used to identify you as you.
Most biometrics technologies are "user-friendly".
The biometrics initiative will assist law enforcement
agencies in making easy headway in fraud investigations
and prosecution and in bringing cases of fraud in the
banking sector to the barest minimum.
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BENEFITS OF BIOMETRICS TECHNOLOGIES
(Cont’d…)
Biometrics technologies have
also been found to be useful
in
enterprises
and
Government
networks,
passport programs and driver
licenses, colleges, physical
access to multiple facilities
(e.g., nightclubs) and school
programs, etc.
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www.google.com/images
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CONCERNS OVER APPLICATION OF
BIOMETRICS TECHNOLOGIES
Despite the numerous benefits of biometrics technologies,
obstacles to immediate and successful deployment still linger
in many parts of the world. Below are amongst the major
concerns:
INVASION OF PRIVACY.
ERROR RATE.
RELATIVE HIGH COST.
INSUFFICIENT OPERATIONAL SKILLS.
www.google.com/images
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COMBATING ID THEFT IN NIGERIA
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One of the initial major obstacles to the introduction of
biometrics technologies in Nigeria, was the absence of a
unified national database for the over 150 million people.
www.google.com/images
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COMBATING ID THEFT IN NIGERIA
(Cont’d…)
As a result of this, the Nigerian
Government
through
the
National Identity Management
Commission (NIMC) boosted
the
nation’s
Automated
Biometrics Identification System
(ABIS) in 2013, ranking its
capacity as the largest in SubSaharan Africa.
www.nimc.gov.ng/images
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COMBATING ID THEFT IN NIGERIA
(Cont’d…)
With the upgrade in capacity, efforts are being intensified
by the Commission to process and harmonize large volume
of identity databases existing in other government
agencies, such as the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC).
www.inecnigeria.org
www.ncc.gov.ng
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BANKING SECTORS
 In 2014, the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), through the
Banker’s
Committee,
an
umbrella body of Deposit
Commercial
Banks,
in
collaboration with all banks in
Nigeria launched a centralized
Biometrics
Identification
System for the industry, tagged:
Bank
Verification
Number
(BVN).
www.cbn.gov.ng/images
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FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE
 The Nigerian Government in 2012 directed all its
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to institute
a biometric verification system for all civil servants in its
employment in an effort to provide the government with
an accurate record of its personnel, as well as a means of
cleaning up its payroll.
The data, so far gathered from the biometrics process
have assisted the government in saving billions of Naira
spent monthly on ‘ghost’ or unidentifiable civil servants.
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ELECTIONEERING PROCESS
 The use of biometric
technologies, Fingerprint
Identification Readers or (Voters’
Data Capturing Machines) to
validate voter ID cards in the
conduct of 2015 general elections
in Nigeria added some level of
credibility, civility and
contributed to the first relatively
safe and successful elections in
the country’s history.
www.inecnigeria.org/images
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NATIONAL CENSUS
 Over-politicization has been the bane of Nigeria’s
previous census exercises.
Census is erroneously viewed by many as a basis for
resource allocation and other expected national benefits
to regions or States. This accounts for the quest to
compromise the process.
Biometric technology is however, being introduced as a
means of checking the undue politicization and ensuring
unbiased, accurate and easy to analyze data in the
proposed national census, slated for 2016.
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ENACTMENT OF THE NIGERIAN
CYBERCRIME ACT, 2015
 In a bid to support the growth
of biometrics technologies and
to check the growing excesses
of criminal activities associated
with ID theft in particular, the
Nigerian Legislature
successfully enacted the
nation’s Cybercrime Act.The
Act was passed into law in
May, 2015.
www.google.com/images
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SUGGESTIONS
Based on the foregoing, the following suggestions are
proffered to support Nigeria’s quest for increased
application of biometrics technologies in addition to efforts
at combating ID theft and other cybercrime related
offences:
i. Technical support from relevant stakeholders in the
international community, especially in the training of
Nigerians on the required expertise in the maintenance
and operations of some relatively complex biometrics
technologies.
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SUGGESTIONS (Cont’d…)
ii. The need to harmonize and strengthen international
laws against ID theft and cybercrime, considering the
dynamic and trans-border nature of these criminal
activities.
iii. The need to sustain international fora, such as c0c0n
Conferences, to provide platforms for cross fertilization
of experiences among global stakeholders, with a view to
being ahead of cyber fraudsters and their fraudulent
acts.
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CONCLUSION
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Amidst the disturbing rise in computer related crimes,
biometrics technologies provide a veritable option to
combate these menaces.
The growing acceptance of these technologies in adding
value to different sectors of the society is a global
testimony to its efficacy. Just like the revolution of
telecommunication sub-sector, biometrics technologies
are set to revitalize critical aspects of human endeavour.
CONCLUSION (CONT’D…)
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As shown by this presentation, Nigeria is a country that is
embracing biometric technology at an encouraging rate.
 The country has been aggressively pursuing strong
authentication solutions for a wide variety of applications
not only to reduce bias, fraud and corruption, but with the
goal of becoming one of the leading world economies by
the year 2020.
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REFERENCES
 Counter, PB. ‘National ID: Nigeria to Use Biometrics in National Census’. An
online article published by findbiometrics.com (May, 2014).
 Email Sample: www.biometricsinstitute.org. ‘About Biometrics’. An Online
Resource Library of the London Biometrics Institute, 2015.
 Folami, Nkoyock, etal. ‘Political Leadership Issues In Africa: Lessons Learned
From The 2015 Nigerian Presidential Election’. Another perspective on
Leadership, Development, and New Technologies, July, 2015.
 Homeland Security. ‘Biometrics Overview’. An online publication by Global
Security.org.
 Nigerian Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015
 Nwannenna, C C. ‘The Place For Biometrics Technology In Local Content
Development’: condatasystems@live.com
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REFERENCES (Cont’d…)
 Obi Paul. ‘NPC Insists on Biometrics Satellite to Conduct 2016 Census’. An
editorial published on ThisDay Newspapers, May, 2015.
 ThisDayLive. ‘Biometrics for Banks’. An Editorial Column published by ThisDay
Newspapers, March, 2015.
 Zeg Zegiorgis. ‘Biometric Technology Stomps Identity Theft’. As part of the
Information Security Reading Room. SANS Institute, 2002.