Biometric authentication facilitates the life of consumers and citizens who are increasingly mobile and connected; offering a simple alternative to the traditional password and PIN.
Despite their ubiquity, passwords suffer from several drawbacks. Like PIN numbers, they can be hacked or stolen by fraudsters and they need to meet four demanding criteria to be effective: the password must be complex, changed frequently, unique to each application or service provider, and never be written down. For people on the move, biometric authentication is easier than entering a complex password several times a day.
Biometric security has none of these drawbacks. Fingerprint, facial or iris recognition are unique in making the connection between our physical and digital identities. Biometric authentication helps to prevent identity theft by enabling a person accessing an account or a device to prove that he or she really is who they claim to be. Stealing biometric data without a person’s knowledge, then reproducing it in a useable form to carry out a transaction is far more of a challenge than stealing and using a password.
With stolen passwords, fraudsters can potentially access thousands of accounts in a matter of seconds. Such a large-scale attack on personal accounts is virtually impossible with a biometric system, as thieves would have to be able to produce fakes for each stolen element, and use them with the appropriate detector. And while PIN codes are limited to four digits, biometric data is unlimited.
Another key advantage of biometrics over conventional technologies is that authentication or identification can be carried out quickly and seamlessly, with the wave of a hand or literally at a glance.
