Biometrics
Security in your hands…Quite literally! The Henrys of our
world seem to trigger revolutions and change the world around us dramatically.
One Henry, we all know is Henry Ford who transformed the automobile industry
and helped bring up the changes that led up to here. Another Henry, one not
quite so popular, is Henry Fauld! Henry Fauld was the first one to identify the
uniqueness of the characteristics of us, humans.
In the 19 century (around the
1880’s), Henry Fauld recognized the distinctiveness of fingerprints. He
examined the fingerprints left behind by the craftsmen on clay pots and was
astounded by the differences between one fingerprint and another. He set about
comparing them with his own fingerprints and came to the conclusion that each and
every fingerprint is unique and that each one has completely different patterns
making them up. This information helped him save a fellow worker wrongly
accused of crime. He compared the fingerprints left behind by the thief at the
scene of theft with that of his friend and realized that it was completely
different. Thus, Henry Fauld was the first one to identify the importance of
Biometrics in our life and helped us on the path to implement this knowledge to
keep ourselves safe.
What exactly is Biometrics? Why
do we need Biometrics? How does Biometrics really work? Well, Biometrics is
basically defined as the technique of studying a person’s physical
characteristics like his fingerprints, hand geometry, and eye structure and
mapping them. Scientists and technologists have used this to create biometrics
system. This system has pre-stored data that is compared to the person’s
physical attributes. For instance, the fingerprint of a person’s finger is
matched with the fingerprint pattern stored in the system. This has been
implemented to improve the security in our homes. In today’s world of crime,
security is very important and a hazard biometrics ensures the highest security
possible. Passwords are kept safe by using methods like retinal scans, facial recognition
and fingerprint scanning.
There are two basic types of
Biometrics--Physical Biometrics and Behavioral biometrics. Physical biometrics
is all about fingerprinting, DNA matching, Retinal scanning, Facial recognition
and keystroke. Behavioral biometrics includes voice recognition and keystroke
recognition.
Fingerprint scanning is an
important and popular form of biometrics. A person’s fingerprints are made up
of ridges and valleys or rather it has grooves in them that are separated by
lines. A fingerprint scanning biometrics system has an optical scanner that is
called a CCD or a Charge coupled device. It is made up an array of light
sensitive diodes that are called photo-sites and when these photo-sites come in
contact with light they generate an electrical signal and records it as a
pixel. The pixels are a particular mixture of dark and light. The LED scanner
in which the finger is inserted illuminates the finger and the CCD takes a
picture of it. The integrity of the picture, the sharpness, color and quality
are all checked and only then the image is matched with the data already
present. These scanners compare special points called minutiae, which are
generally the terminal points of the ridges. A specific number of minutiae are
matched to the algorithm created. Only if all these are verified, does the
fingerprint scanner get disabled. However, the finger inserted has to oil free
and shouldn’t be smudged. These are some issues that need to be dealt with
Retinal Scanning is a process in
which a person’s retina is scanned. The eye is placed in an orifice, which
contains a scanning device. The CCD analyzes the blood vessels behind the eye
with the help of a low intensity light. The pattern in the blood vessels is
matched with the patterns recorded in the system. This is an excellentway of
ensuring security, as it is both sensitive and foolproof.
Iris Scans basically examine the
iris tissue in the eye. There are possible two hundred points that can be
matched while an iris scan is being conducted. It is done with the help of a
camera and the iris is scanned from a distance of one foot.
Facial recognition is a method in
which, the camera divides the face into around eighty nodes, which generally
compose the important features of a person like the jaw line, chin, distance
between the eyes and the length of the nose. The system matches around 14-25
points and matches these with the face prints that have already been stored.
Speech recognition is an
important part of behavioral biometrics. This involves speaking specific
phrases that are already present in the system. The system checks for
particular intonations and the high and low frequencies.
Signature recognition is a method
in which the user signs on a tablet after which the system matches it with the
signature already present in the system
Today Biometrics is used in security systems and in Forensic laboratories for identifying persons from their prints. DNA tests have gone a long way in establishing relationships between people. Its is a fast expanding fieldthat is branching off into increasing number of specializations. Biometrics has, thus, come into its own as an important field of study