Slashdot Mirror

During a 2010 presentationmade by the FBI’s Biometric Center of Intelligence, the FBI said the technology could be used for "identifying subjects in public databases."

Hello, Facebok!

Biometrics can be much more secure, if used properly. A study in the UK presented at the recent biometric consortium conferences make it claer see http://www.biometrics.org/bc2005/Presentations/Con ference/Wednesday%20September%2021/Wed_Ballroom%20 B/Statham%20-%20Comparing%20Auth%20Mechanisms.pdf

Because obviously such a study was totally independent and in no way biased towards the industry which in no way stands to make an absolute packet from developing and selling the technology to commercial enterprises ... :rolleyes:

Biometrics are even better if all the communications are encrypted (which some do). With effort they can be as good as very long very random passords. But the real rub is standard biometrics cannot be revoked if it is ever compromised or someone in the company sells the data (like ChoicePoint sold financial data). While many slash-dot postings focus on lifting latent prints, the bigger long term risk is probably hacking into databases and someone that has never even been in the same city as you starts using your prints. Traditional biometrics are perment, so a database of them starts looking like a high-value

There are technologies that make then even better such as the revocable technologies being developed by http://www.securics.com/ or the distorted biometrics by IBM http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/403/ratha.h tml) allow your biometric to be different for each application and can cancel one if compromised.

Social engineering? Signing up for the listserv is a matter of going to this website., then filling out such hard hitting forms as "Name" and "Interest in Biometrics", and waiting for an e-mail confirmation stating you've been approved. Since the website says that its a free listserv for anyone interested in Biometrics, I don't think approval would be all that hard to get. After they signed up, they then summarized the most interesting things from each year that were posted to the listserv, and posted the results on the web. Wow! From the summary and translated article make it seem like they pulled a government approved hack of the NSA using cunning wit and unmatched skill or something.

There is Biometrics Consortium which works towards creating standards for Biometrics. There is also BioAPI Consortium which which has standardized BioAPI. All the Biometric SDKs that I know of implement BioAPI.

Jalil Vaidya

It's called a biometric.

Yes, it is a little more convienient to have a single login across several sites. However, if the security of Passport(or one of the websites to which it connects) is comprimised, your access to all the sites is potentially comprimised. Why let them just get into your hotmail account when you can let them access you MSDN account, online banking accounts, IRA accounts and everything else that MS will have using Passport in the future? Several accounts may be a PITA, but a unified login opens up a much larger security hole if an exploit is found. And let's face it, MS has not always been the most security-conscious developer. The best alternative is quick development of biometric technologies. I would rather be authenticated by my fingerprints or retinas than entrust MS with my security.


Enigma

The International Biometrics Consortium is an organization of individuals, companies, and institutions that concerns itself with all aspects of Biometric technology. Fingerprinting is one of the most talked about, but retinal scans, voice prints, face recognition, behavioral recognition (such as gait or common hours of arrival and departure,) hand geometry, and other measures of "what you are" instead of "what you have" or "what you know." To become a member, you must join the listserv here.

Every November they have an annual Conference, but there are many events throughout the year, throughout the world.

There are many other organizations such as BioAPI that are concerned with aspects of the technology such as multivendor hardware and software support.

I attended the Consortium's 2000 conference at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, USA. I was quite impressed with the state of the technology and the amount of research that has been done in this area, but surprised at the lack of large scale corporate interest. Happy hunting, and please post your experiences!

The International Biometrics Consortium is an organization of individuals, companies, and institutions that concerns itself with all aspects of Biometric technology. Fingerprinting is one of the most talked about, but retinal scans, voice prints, face recognition, behavioral recognition (such as gait or common hours of arrival and departure,) hand geometry, and other measures of "what you are" instead of "what you have" or "what you know." To become a member, you must join the listserv here.

Every November they have an annual Conference, but there are many events throughout the year, throughout the world.

There are many other organizations such as BioAPI that are concerned with aspects of the technology such as multivendor hardware and software support.

I attended the Consortium's 2000 conference at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, USA. I was quite impressed with the state of the technology and the amount of research that has been done in this area, but surprised at the lack of large scale corporate interest. Happy hunting, and please post your experiences!

The International Biometrics Consortium is an organization of individuals, companies, and institutions that concerns itself with all aspects of Biometric technology. Fingerprinting is one of the most talked about, but retinal scans, voice prints, face recognition, behavioral recognition (such as gait or common hours of arrival and departure,) hand geometry, and other measures of "what you are" instead of "what you have" or "what you know." To become a member, you must join the listserv here.

Every November they have an annual Conference, but there are many events throughout the year, throughout the world.

There are many other organizations such as BioAPI that are concerned with aspects of the technology such as multivendor hardware and software support.

I attended the Consortium's 2000 conference at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, USA. I was quite impressed with the state of the technology and the amount of research that has been done in this area, but surprised at the lack of large scale corporate interest. Happy hunting, and please post your experiences!

The International Biometrics Consortium is an organization of individuals, companies, and institutions that concerns itself with all aspects of Biometric technology. Fingerprinting is one of the most talked about, but retinal scans, voice prints, face recognition, behavioral recognition (such as gait or common hours of arrival and departure,) hand geometry, and other measures of "what you are" instead of "what you have" or "what you know." To become a member, you must join the listserv here.

Every November they have an annual Conference, but there are many events throughout the year, throughout the world.

There are many other organizations such as BioAPI that are concerned with aspects of the technology such as multivendor hardware and software support.

I attended the Consortium's 2000 conference at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, USA. I was quite impressed with the state of the technology and the amount of research that has been done in this area, but surprised at the lack of large scale corporate interest. Happy hunting, and please post your experiences!

Hate to say it, but that's not true. If you've got something like Back Orifice (or a keystroke sniffer, or even a shoulder surfer) on your machine, then the jig is up. You need to use something which incorporates biometrics in order to be really sure your communications are secure and identifiable. Heck, even a SecuurID is better than a plain password dialog.

-B