Chapter 8
Selecting a Biometric
Presentation by
Phani Dogiparthi
Contents:
Biometric Attributes
Properties of Applications
Evaluating Biometric Options
Cost and Affordability of Biometric
Pros and Cons of Various Biometrics
Myths and Misrepresentations
Factors Associated with choosing a Biometric
Comparison of the Various Attributes
Application Requisites
What is the protected asset;
Who are the authorized users and operators;
Who are the adversaries of the application;
What can be the costs of security violations;
What is the actual cost of the security; and
What is the added cost of inconvenience?
Categories of Applications
Cooperative and Non-cooperative
Overt and Covert
Habituated and Non-habituated
Attended and Non-attended
Standard Environment
Public and Private
Open and Closed
Importance Weightings
Drawbacks of various Biometrics
Mismatch Calculation
Zephyr Charts
Characteristics Weighting
Effortless
Iris
>
Face
> Finger > voice
Non-intrusive
Iris
>
Voice > Face
> Finger
Accurate
Iris
>
Finger > Face
~ Voice
Inexpensive
Voice >
Finger > Face
> Iris
Affordability and Cost
Total Cost of ownership
Verification versus Identification
Single and Multiple Authentication protocols
Training
-> System Training
-> Enrollment
Continued Enrollment
Failure to Enroll
User Education
Supervisory Labor
Maintenance Labor
Positives and Negatives of the Biometrics
Fingerprint - Pros
Long Tradition of usage of fingerprint as immutable
identification in law enforcement
Existing of large databases of fingerprints comprising
largely of criminals
Forensic investigation uses fingerprint
Sampling of the fingerprint is easy
Conversion of fingerprints into digital images is getting
easier, better and cheaper
Various state departments of motor vehicles are working
to establish a fingerprint biometric system for driver’s
license and record data
Fingerprint-Cons
Finger print suffer from poor public reputation
Social stigma such that it is related to illiterate
Variation occurs due to age, cut or due to working
conditions
Sampling variations due to improper usage of the
apparatus
Rare situations like people without fingers.
Face - Pros
Photos are widely used and usage is public accepted
Face recognition systems are least intrusive.
In theory this biometric works with image sources
In theory can be applied to identify criminals in crowd
It is good biometric for small scale verification purpose
Face - Cons
Face authentication requires images taken in a good
controlled lighted environment
Presently it is a poor biometric for usage in pure
identification protocol
Disguise - a major obstacle
Usage may hamper due to social stigma
Voice - Pros
Like face voice is natural biometric
Voice sampling can also be obtained unobtrusively
Great public acceptance of this biometric
Voice uses inexpensive hardware and can be
established on current communications systems
Voice allows incremental protocols
Voice may achieve high accuracy and flexibility when
combined with knowledge verification
Voice allows continuous identity checking
Voice - Cons
Imitation by possible in voice
Possibility of creating nonexistent identities with text-tospeech technology
Depends on high quality capturing of audio signal
Possibility in rare cases where voice is lost
Iris - pros
Widely believed to be the most accurate biometric
Sample acquisition is unobtrusive – no physical contact
Received only little negative press
Present claim is that iris does not involve high training
costs
Iris - Cons
There are no or few legacy iris databases
Sampling the iris patterns requires much user
cooperation or complex, expensive input devices
Iris authentication is hampered by vision aid
This biometric is not left as an evidence in the scene of
crime, so not used for forensic applications
Cases like missing eye
Hand - Pros
Certain amount of public acceptance
Termed as “do-it-yourself” operation
Existing of at least one scenario evaluation of hand
geometry
Can be used in place in stronger biometric where
stronger might induce public fear
Hand - Cons
Physical contact induces public hygiene
Not very distinctive
Existence of only one scenario application rises doubts
about Hand as Biometric
Mutation
Signature - Pros
Man-made biometric- extensive study in forgery
Used to identify impersonation even at enrollment stage
Training is fast
Has fast response and low storage requirements
Independent of the native language of speaker
Combination of information and biometric
Unaffected by high compression rates
Signature - Cons
Excessive usage of signature rises perception that it is
not secure enough for protection
Scaling properties and identifier standards are hard to
set
A five-dimensional pen is needed to get desired
accuracy which makes hardware costly
Medical conditions prevent people from writing
consistently
Myths and Misrepresentations
Biometric “X” is best for all applications
Biometric “X” is unique for each individual
A single number quantifies system accuracy
System is “ plug and play “
Real accuracy performance can be predicted
The vendors reporting best FAR and FRR has the “most
accurate system”
Multiple biometrics outperform single biometrics
“Our biometric system does not use a decision
threshold”
“Our feature extractor can be used with any match
engine”
Large templates mean better accuracy
Face recognition prevents terrorism
Biometrics means 100 percent security
Biometric systems invade our privacy
Biometric sensors are unhygienic or otherwise harmful
Thank you