LaCie SAFE Mobile Hard Drive Manual - page 3
Many technological devices and systems are now developed with
biometric solutions to control access to rooms, workstations, networks
and some software applications. Utilized alone or integrated with other
technologies such as smart cards, encryption keys and digital signatures,
biometric technology is set to pervade many aspects of the economy and
our daily lives. More and more consumer electronics products integrate
biometric identifi cation such as in some laptops, PDA, mobile phones,
or MP3 players.
Are there real needs for biometric solutions?
These days, people are generally not opposed to using their biological
traits instead of passwords for identifi cation. In their daily lives, people
have so many passwords to remember (credit card, door access, car
computer control...) that they fi nd it easier and faster to scan their fi ngers
on a panel than to remember and enter a new password. Utilizing
biometrics for personal authentication is becoming more convenient
than other current methods (such as passwords or smart cards).
The trend is toward centralizing identity management—employing
a combination of both physical and logical access parameters for
gaining access to different types of resources. Many companies are now
looking for this sort of identity management solution, which requires
the use of biometrics. As the level of security breaches and transaction
frauds increases, the need for highly secure identifi cation and personal
verifi cation technologies is becoming apparent. The need for biometrics
can be found in federal, state and local governments, in the military,
and in commercial applications. Enterprise-wide network security
infrastructures, government IDs, secure electronic banking, investing
and other fi nancial transactions, retail sales, law enforcement, health
and social services are already benefi ting from this technology.
Is biological trait identifi cation safe and reliable?
The security fi eld uses three different types of authentication: something
you know (a password, PIN), something you have (a card key, smart
card) or something you are (a biometric trait). Of these, biometric trait
identifi cation is the most secure and convenient authentication tool.
It cannot be borrowed, stolen or forgotten, and forging one is practically
impossible. Each human has his/her own biological identity that is
different from anyone else’s, which explains the diffi culty in corrupting
this kind of data. To show how reliable biometrics is, many governments
are choosing to use fi ngerprint and face digitalization on identity
papers and visas to better identify people. Using biometric identifi cation
avoids the risks of forgotten passwords or data access control
corruption.
Sources:
http://www.biometrics.org/html/introduction.html
http://csrc.nist.gov/cryptval/des/tripledesval.html