Biometric Security Technology: Are You At A Danger Of Identity Theft?

 

In today’s security world, biometrics is considered a must-have. The only reason behind it is the efficiency of biometric security technology. Unlike passwords, biometrics is something that cannot be copied by others. That is why most organizations are opting for these methods to keep their restricted areas secure. If you look a few years back, biometric security was only a concept that was used in Sci-Fi movies, and it only seemed like a fictional idea. But kudos to experts that they made the idea real and made it efficient as well.

Types Of Biometrics

If you look deep into biometrics, you will find that it is more than just fingerprints and face scans. In general terms, biometric is a way that can be used to verify you through your physical characteristics. Now, these characteristics can be of different types. Here are six of them that are used in biometric security technology.

  • These are the most common biometrics, which captures the patterns of your finger. Prints are used in several domains to verify a user and grant them access to something.
  • Yet another commonly used biometric that measures different distances of the face to authenticate a user. Not just for authenticity, facial recognition has made its way to security and law enforcement.
  • This is not widely used, but is definitely a unique way of identifying individuals. The devices check the user’s voice patterns to identify them. These are generally not used for security purposes.
  • The way a user interacts typically with systems is recorded and then used to verify you every time you operate the system. These characteristics can be the way you use the mouse or the keystrokes or any other movement.
  • You might have seen this in many movies, where the device scans one’s eye to grant them access. It is an efficient method. Still, it hasn’t made its place in the consumer market.
  • These are a step back from the fingerprint biometrics. As this biometric security technology was used in the 1980s where the devices checked a person’s hand geometry to verify them.

Biometric Data Protection

Your biometrics are the most personal data, as it is the collection of your physical traits. That means if someone gets access to this data, they can easily steal your identity, which brings the identity theft problem into account. Identity theft is the most significant obstacle associated with biometrics. It means using someone else’s identity to gain access to their privileges.

When these kinds of problems started arising from biometrics, experts had to find a method for biometric data protection. The first solution was to avoid biometrics entirely. But because of its efficiency in biometric security technology, that was pretty much not possible. So people came up with other ideas to protect the biometric data.

As biometrics are stored in a computer system, it is prone to get hacked. Therefore, to protect the biometric data, it is crucial to protect these systems from getting hacked first. For that, a few points can be considered.

  • Most of the intruders enter computer systems through the medium of the internet. By minimizing internet exposure, all those threats can be avoided.
  • Even with the minimum of exposure to the internet or to any foreign entity, these systems can be breached. In order to prevent that, the best available security measures should be used.
  • Along with the security measures, it is crucial to keep a check on systems now and then. Thus, people can conduct security audits or keep a team that can track everything that goes on these systems.

Along with this, you should also know that identity theft is not only related to finances. It can be used for other benefits as well. For example, a person can use a child’s security number for committing some kind of fraud. Several other things can be done by stealing someone’s identity. So you should ensure your biometric data protection.

Conclusion

Biometric security technology is a hype nowadays, which is why they are highlighted in the eyes of intruders. This technology cannot be avoided. However, you can ensure the protection of your biometric data so that you do not end up in some kind of trouble.