The future of security

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Ian Pearson August 2005

Public awareness of security issues is rapidly increasing. People are using the net far more, for banking, auctions, and purchases. Most people are aware of identity theft and the many email based scams for stealing bank details. And of course physical security has recently become a major issue too.

Biometrics is becoming popular for ID verification. Credit cards are being launched that have built-in fingerprint recognition. The card won’t activate unless it recognises the appropriate print. Iris scans are also becoming popular. Many other biometric techniques are also being studied, such as systems that check vein maps, face, gait (the way you walk), voice, ears, saliva or even smell. Some airport are already using biometrics to expedite immigration. But there are always weak links. Even if we discount people being able to replicate your biometrics, they may still access your bank account if they can persuade the bank teller that the machine won’t recognise them properly, but that they really are you. Whatever the technology’s qualities, it always comes down to a weak human link in the end.

A new form of semi-biometric security might involve putting tiny magnets into the skin surface. An array of 64 tiny magnets, each smaller than skin cells, could be read while scanning a fingerprint to add an electronic guarantee. This 64 bit code could be updated every time it is used, so even if a fingerprint were copied, the code would be useless next time.

Often during discussion about ID cards, people suggest putting the biometrics on the card itself, but this seems silly. If a criminal has a machine for forging cards, surely he would put his own biometrics on the card. The card would verify that he was the person the biometric points to, but the name on the card could be anyone’s. It is better to ensure that cards only work with a secure networked biometric database. He may still use false ID to get his ID card, but at least it would be easy to spot biometric duplicates so then he wouldn’t be able to register again as anyone else – even himself. It would be very much harder for people to have multiple identities.

So although biometrics certainly has some weaknesses if used as a sole security measure, when implemented sensibly, it promises to play an important part in our future security. We just need to always think about where the weak link is.