In order to fully protect yourself and your office environment from potential threats, it is important for organizations to implement biometrics. The process of implementing biometrics begins by identifying a person, who can then be physically processed through biometric technology. Once the person’s identity has been verified, he or she can then be granted access into the organization. There are many reasons why biometrics may be implemented in an organization. Some of the major reasons to use biometrics include controlling fraud, preventing unauthorized entry, identifying personnel in an emergency, and more.
Biometrics refer to specific physical characteristics that are used as signs or fingerprint templates to identify individuals. Biometrics have proven to be extremely effective in identifying people. These types of physical characteristics include fingerprints, face recognition, hand geometry, and signature. A digital image is extracted from the individual’s fingerprint through specialized equipment. The image is then run through software that breaks down the “analogy” of the person’s fingerprint. The resulting image is then interpreted by the biometrics database, revealing details such as the individual’s name, age, gender, educational background and more.
Fingerprint Identification. Biometrics provide an unparalleled level of protection for any enterprise setting, and are often used to prevent the theft of items of value as well as perform identity verification. Businesses utilize fingerprint identification to: Prevent the unauthorized access of qualified personnel, implement controls for safekeeping and control of goods and funds, and perform background checks. In addition, biometrics can be combined with other personal and business resources to generate even greater protection and security.
Facial Recognition. A digital photograph of an individual’s face is taken, typically with a digital camera, and stored on a database. Using advanced imaging technology, a computer can quickly analyze this stored facial recognition database to determine individuals’ identity. This type of facial recognition performs the same task as a fingerprint identification system; however, it provides even more detail because it captures a full face picture.
Iris Recognition. Iris biometrics enable individuals and businesses to match an individual’s iris – the colored part of the eye – to their fingerprints or other identifying characteristics. Iris recognition is the most commonly used form of biometrics, because the iris plays an important role in human recognition. When individuals, business establishments, and security personnel are trying to identify an individual, they look directly into the eyes of the subject. Biometrics embedded in the iris help identify individuals by eye color, hair color, nose shape, and gender.
Nomic Recognition. Another way to employ biometrics is through the use of voice recognition software. Voice recognition is also called biometrics-based voice recognition, or BPR. In order to capture a voice, a computer application will record a sound that will later be analyzed by a biometric recognition device. This type of automated biometric systems are currently being used in a wide range of industries such as finance, transportation, and healthcare, but will soon be in high demand for personal identification.
Behavioral Biometrics. Many individuals do not realize that biometrics can also include data derived from the unique physical characteristics of a person. Biometrics can be comprised of data such as eye and hair color, gender, and date of birth. These kinds of behavioral biometrics are used to identify criminal offenders, detect and prevent fraud, and monitor and protect children.
In order for biometrics to be considered as “analogous,” which means that it recursively contains information taken from one fingerprint or iris in order to identify the individual, it should contain certain specific attributes. In order to effectively capture an individual’s fingerprint, it should contain two fingerprints either the latent finger print or the iris print. In addition, biometrics should contain blood test results, date of birth, or date of death. However, most of the time, these specific features of a finger print or iris scan cannot be captured with a traditional biometric because of the specific anatomy of fingerprints and irises.