Modern access control relies on three types of identifying factors — something you have, something you know and something you are. Something you have usually includes a physical item, like an ID card or a key. Something you know would be a password or a PIN. That last factor — something you are — is also known as biometrics.
Want to learn more? Download our whitepaper: Typing Biometrics and Other Multi-Factor Authentication Methods today!
What Is Biometric Authentication?
According to the definition from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), biometrics are automated identification methods that use a person’s behavioral or physiological characteristics to verify their identity.
Biometric security systems rely on two processes:
- Identification: Comparing the input factor against those in the database to ensure it is an approved credential.
- Verification: Confirming that the user is who they say they are by matching their input to a specific user profile.
These systems are often combined with other identity and access management (IAM) solutions like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and role-based access control (RBAC).
Types of Biometric Authentication
While there are many types of biometric authentication in use today, the five most common examples are:
- Fingerprints
- Facial recognition
- Voice recognition
- Iris recognition
- Palm or finger vein patterns
These factors make up two main categories — behavioral and physiological.
Behavioral Biometrics
Behavioral biometrics refer to the unique way a person performs a certain behavior, like writing their signature or walking down a hallway.
While this technology is still evolving, some existing methods include:
- Keystroke recognition: This method records a person’s individual typing pattern, including the pace at which they type particular letters or words, to isolate and identify the user entering their login credentials.
- Gait recognition: Some advanced systems examine and track the way a person walks to match their gait to that of a known user profile. While it’s not feasible in every situation, gait recognition can be an accurate identifier of an individual.
- Digital signatures: This system consists of two parts — a static system that compares the user’s signature input to an existing handwriting sample and a dynamic component that tracks their hand movements while writing.
Physiological Biometrics
Physiological biometric authentication analyzes an individual’s unique biological markers, such as fingerprints, eye structure and face shape to ensure a match with an existing user profile.
These physiological factors are easy to track and highly accurate because they’re difficult for fraudsters to replicate without expensive equipment.
Some examples of physiological biometrics include:
- Fingerprints: Everyone has a different fingerprint, so it makes sense fingerprint scanning is one of the most widely used and cost-effective types of biometric authentication out there.
- Eye scanning: The user looks into an eye reader, which analyzes either their iris pattern or retinal structure to match it to an approved user profile.
- Facial recognition: Device cameras scan the user’s face to verify their identity by measuring key facial features. Large-scale environments requiring tight security, such as casinos, use facial recognition technology to solve cases of theft.
- Vein recognition: The system examines the unique vein patterns in the user’s finger or palm to confirm their identity. This method is more secure than fingerprint identification because vein patterns are subdermal and, therefore, harder to alter.
- Ear recognition: Some systems assess the unique shape of a user’s ear and match it to their profile.
- DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) matching: Everyone’s DNA is totally unique, which is why technology that matches the length and sequence of the acids in DNA to individual user profiles is a highly accurate identification method.
- Finger geometry: Some systems can identify a person by the unique shape of their hands or fingers.
- Voice recognition: This method of authentication analyzes the sounds a person makes when they speak for specific patterns and cadence.
- Body odor recognition: Although such systems are rare, placing sensors against certain body parts — such as the backs of the hands or the armpits — enables this technology to recognize individuals by their unique body odor.
The Advantages of Biometrics
Some benefits of implementing biometric security systems include:
- Reduced risk of credential loss: MFA systems using biometric authentication methods require users to remember fewer credentials, improving security and saving valuable time on password resets.
- Lower risk of theft or transfer: Leaving access cards or notes containing passwords in plain sight is an easy way for unauthorized personnel to enter your system. Biometrics are impossible to leave behind or transfer without causing physical trauma to the user.
- Individual specificity: Unless a user is colluding with an unauthorized person, there’s very little risk that the person authenticating into your system via biometric factors is someone other than who they claim to be.
- Intuitive operation: Most users should be able to figure out how to input their biometric data with little difficulty, making it a much more convenient process than hunting for passwords or struggling with access card readers.
Biometrics and Identity Access Management
Advanced IAM solutions often incorporate biometrics, meaning employees use physical or behavioral factors to authenticate into an organization’s facility, network or applications.
IAM solutions assign unique digital identities to each user or device in the network, which you can further manage by assigning specific privileges and access levels based on the user’s role in the organization. Each user profile in the database is only verifiable using the factors set by the user — which significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized users getting into your system.
For example, one user of an MFA system might set a 4-digit PIN as their first authentication factor and use facial recognition as the second. While a malicious actor could technically get hold of the PIN, they’ll have a much harder time getting past the face scan.
Which Biometric Authentication Methods Should You Use?
Your company’s management should carefully consider which biometric factors are most appropriate for your organization’s specific requirements. For example, you might choose behavioral biometrics because it requires minimal investment in new infrastructure — you can often collect identifying data using your existing hardware. Or you might prefer fingerprint identification because it’s widely available and more user-friendly than many other methods.
While you can use multiple biometrics for identification, a single biometric paired with some other authentication factor like a key card, push notification or password, is usually sufficient for secure access. Companies with more stringent security requirements may need to add more biometric factors, but it’s rarely cost-effective for general companies to use more than one.
Choose Custom IAM Solutions From Optimal IDM
At Optimal IDM, we work with your organization to build enterprise IAM solutions tailored to your specific security needs — and biometrics are often a key component of those systems.
If your organization needs to elevate its defenses against cyber threats, our expert team is here to help. Contact us today for more information about our process and our security offerings.
Want to learn more? Download our whitepaper: Typing Biometrics and Other Multi-Factor Authentication Methods today!
