By Malware News
Biometrics, the science of identifying individuals based on their unique physical and behavioral characteristics, has a rich history. However, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that Sir Francis Galton established the scientific basis for fingerprint identification.
Over the years, biometrics has evolved from manual methods to sophisticated electronic systems. In the 1960s, the FBI began using computers to store and match fingerprints. The 1970s saw the development of voice recognition systems, and the 1980s brought iris recognition technology. The advent of digital cameras in the 1990s paved the way for facial recognition systems.
Biometrics has become integral to various applications, from securing smartphones to controlling access to high-security facilities. Fingerprint scanners, for instance, are now standard on most smartphones, allowing users to unlock their devices with just a touch. Airports and border control increasingly adopt facial recognition technology to verify travelers’ identities. In other areas, such as India’s Aadhaar program, iris scanners are used for national identification. Meanwhile, wearables and smart home devices continuously collect data from their users’ daily activities. In some cases, individuals willingly hand over their sensitive data, as seen with 23&Me, a company facing financial difficulties and considering selling the DNA data of its 15 million users.
However, the widespread use of biometrics also raises significant privacy concerns. Unlike passwords or other credentials, biometric data such as DNA is immutable—you can’t change it once it’s compromised. This permanence fuels fears about the security of biometric databases. It is a growing concern, as they present attractive targets for threat actors seeking to gain access to sensitive personal data.
What Are Biometrics?
Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their unique biological and behavioral characteristics. This technology leverages measurable physical traits, such as fingerprints, facial patterns, iris scans, and voice recognition, to establish identity or verify claimed identities.
Conversely, behavioral biometrics focus on unique patterns in someone’s behavior. Some examples of behavioral biometrics are the way that people type, interact with touchscreens, move their mouse, or walk.
How Does Biometric Identification Work?
Biometric systems typically involve several components: a scanning device to capture the data, software to process and compare this data against stored templates, and a secure database for storing the information. The comparison can occur in two modes: identification (1:N matching), where an individual is matched against a database of many, or verification (1:1 matching), where the individual’s data is compared to a specific stored template.
A person’s biometric information is first entered into the system during enrollment. At this stage, a specific characteristic, such as a fingerprint, is collected to serve as the individual’s biometric reference. This can be stored as raw information (like the image itself) or as a digital template. In the case of a digital template, key features are extracted and processed to create a unique identifier, which is then stored in a database.
Later, during recognition, the system detects the person’s biometric characteristics, extracts key features, and matches them against the stored templates to authenticate or identify the individual.
These templates are often unique to the specific solution and may even be exclusive to the particular model. As a result, a template generated by one manufacturer might not be recognized by a system from another vendor and sometimes even by newer versions of the same system. Because of this specificity, storing templates poses a significantly lower risk than storing raw biometric data, such as a complete fingerprint image.
Threats and Vulnerabilities in Biometric Systems
Just like any other system, biometric systems also have vulnerabilities.
One threat against biometric systems comes from fake props, where attackers attempt to deceive the system into accepting a fake trait as legitimate. This can involve creating synthetic fingerprints, high-resolution photographs for facial recognition, or even 3D-printed masks that mimic a person’s face. The risk here is that if an attacker successfully impersonates a legitimate user, they can gain unauthorized access under that user’s name.
Data breaches represent another critical vulnerability in biometric systems. Unlike passwords, which can be changed if compromised, biometric data—once stolen—cannot be altered. This creates a long-term security risk, as attackers can use stolen biometric data indefinitely for identity theft or unauthorized access.
Sourced from Truth Unmuted
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