SYSTEM SECURITY TECHNOLOGY

Biometrics and Fingerprints



Biometrics and Fingerprints

Introduction

The word “biometrics” comes from the Greek language and is derived from the words bio (life) and metric (to measure). This paper will refer to biometrics as the technologies used to measure and analyze personal characteristics, both physiological and behavioral. These characteristics include fingerprints, voice patterns, hand measurements, irises and others, all used to identify human characteristics and to verify identity. These biometrics or characteristics are tightly connected to an individual and cannot be forgotten, shared, stolen or easily hacked. These characteristics can uniquely identify a person, replacing or supplementing traditional security methods by providing two major improvements: personal biometrics cannot be easily stolen and an individual does not need to memorize passwords or codes. Since biometrics can better solve the problems of access control, fraud and theft, more and more organizations are considering biometrics a solution to their security problems. However, biometrics is not a panacea and has some hurdles to overcome before gaining widespread use. This paper will discuss the recent history of finger print biometrics technology; fingerprint matching fingerprint classification, fingerprint image enhancement and finger scan technology.

With increasingly urgent need for reliable security, biometrics is being spotlighted as the authentication method for the next generation. Among numerous biometric technologies, fingerprint authentication has been in use for the longest time and bears more advantages than other biometric technologies do.

Biometric and Finger Print

Fingerprint authentication is possibly the most sophisticated method of all biometric technologies and has been thoroughly verified through various applications. Fingerprint authentication has particularly proved its high efficiency and further enhanced the technology in criminal investigation for more than a century.

Even features such as a person's gait, face, or signature may change with passage of time and may be fabricated or imitated. However, a fingerprint is completely unique to an individual and stayed unchanged for lifetime. This exclusivity demonstrates that fingerprint authentication is far more accurate and efficient than any other methods of authentication.

Also, a fingerprint may be taken and digitalized by relatively compact and cheap devices and takes only a small capacity to store a large database of information. With these strengths, fingerprint authentication has long been a major part of the security market and continues to be more competitive than others in today's world.

The past development of two disciplines, Phrenology and Anthropometry, helped to pave the way for biometrics. Phrenology, the study of the structure of the skull to determine a person's character and mental capacity, was founded by Franz Joseph in early nineteenth century Germany. Gall believed that certain mental characteristics could be aligned with certain cranial shapes and features. This concept was further advanced by an Italian physician named Cesare Lombroso who linked the concepts of phrenology with specific regard to criminal behavior, trying to relate behavior patterns with physical and biological characteristics.1 Although long considered a pseudoscience lacking real scientific merit, Phrenology remained popular, especially in the United States, throughout the 19th century and still has advocates today ...