CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. ORIGIN OF BIOMETRICS 2
3. TYPOLOGY IN BIOMETRICS 3
4. GENERIC MODEL OF BIOMETRICS 4
4.1 Data Collection
4.2 Transmission
4.3 Signal Processing
4.4 Decision Making
4.5 Data Storage
5. PHASES IN BIOMETRICS 6
5.1 Input
5.2 Process
5.3 Output
6. VARIOUS BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS 8
6.1 Hand
6.2 Fingerprint
6.3 Face
6.4 Eye
6.4.1 Retina
6.4.2 Iris
6.5 Speech
6.6 Speaker Verification
7. COMPARISION OF BIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES
16
7.1 Uniqueness of Biometric Features
8. HOW WELL DOES BIOMETRICS WORK
18
8.1 False Acceptance Rate (FAR)
8.2 False Reject Rate (FRR)
8.3 Equal Error Rates
8.4 Validity of Test
9. ABOUT BIOMETRICS
20
9.1 Will Biometrics Solve All Security Concerns?
9.2 Which Is the Best Technique Among Above?
9.3 Is Biometrics More secure Than Passwords?
9.4 Where Biometrics Is Used
9.5 Near Future Technologies
9.6 Benefits of Adopting Biometrics
10. MULTI-BIOMETRICS
22
10.1 Integrating Faces and Fingerprints for Personal Identification

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 10.2 A Multimodal Biometric System Using Fingerprint, Face and
Speech
11. CONCLUSION
24

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 INTRODUCTION

BIOMETRICS refers to the automatic identification of a person based on

his physiological / behavioural characteristics. This method of
identification is preferred for various reasons; the person to be identified
is required to be physically present at the point of identification;
identification based on biometric techniques obviates the need to
remember a password or carry a token. With the increased use of
computers or vehicles of information technology, it is necessary to
restrict access to sensitive or personal data. By replacing PINs, biometric
techniques can potentially prevent unauthorized access to fraudulent use
of ATMs, cellular phones, smart cards, desktop PCs, workstations, and
computer networks. PINs and passwords may be forgotten, and token
based methods of identification like passports and driver’s licenses may
be forged, stolen, or lost .Thus biometric systems of identification are
enjoying a renewed interest. Various types of biometric systems are
being used for real–time identification; the most popular are based on
face recognition and fingerprint matching. However there are other
biometric systems that utilize iris and retinal scan, speech, facial thermo
grams, and hand geometry.

A biometric system is essentially a pattern recognition system, which

makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a
specific physiological or behavioural characteristics possessed by the
user. An important issue in designing a practical system is to determine
how an individual is identified. Depending on the context, a biometric
system can be either a verification (authentication) system or an
identification system.

There are two different ways to resolve a person’s identity: Verification

and Identification. Verification (Am I whom I claim I am?) involves
confirming or denying a person’s claimed identity. In Identification one
has to establish a person’s identity (whom am I?). Each one of these
approaches has its own complexities and could probably be solved best
by a certain biometric system.

Biometrics is rapidly evolving technology, which is being used in

forensics such as criminal identification and prison security, and has the
potential to be used in a large range of civilian application areas.
Biometrics can be used transactions conducted via telephone and
Internet (electronic commerce and electronic banking). In automobiles,
biometrics can replace keys with key -less entry devices.

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 ORIGIN OF BIOMETRICS

Biometrics dates back to the ancient Egyptians, who measured people to

identity them. But automated devices appeared within living memory.
One of the first commercial devices introduced less than 30 years ago.
The system is called the indentimat. The machine measured finger
length and installed in a time keeping system. Biometrics is also catching
on computer and communication system as well as automated teller
machines (ATM’s).

Biometrics devices have three primary components. One is an

automated mechanism that scans and captures a digital / analog image
of living personal characteristics. Another handles compression,
processing, storage and comparison of image with the stored data. The
third interfaces with application systems. These pieces may be
configured to suit different situations. A common issue is where the
stored image resides: on a card, presented by the person being verified
or at a host computer.

Recognition occurs when an individual’s image is matched with one of a

group of stored images. This is the way the human brain performs most
day to day identifications. For the brain this is a relatively quick and
efficient process, where as for computers to recognise that a living image
matches one of many it has stored, the job can be time consuming and
costly.

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 TYPOLOPY OF BIOMETRICS

Biometrics encompasses both physiological and behavioural

characteristics. This is illustrated in Figure 1. A physiological
characteristic is a relatively stable physical feature such as finger print,
hand silhouette, iris pattern or facial features. These factors are basically
unalterable without trauma to the individual.

A behavioural tract, on the other hand, has some physiological basis, but
also reflects person’s physiological makeup. The most common trait used
in identification is a person’s signature. Other behaviours used include a
person’s keyboard typing and speech patterns. Because of most
behavioural characteristics change over time, many biometrics machines
not rely on behaviour. It is required to update their enrolled reference
template may differ significantly from the original data, and the machine
become more proficient at identifying the person. Behavioural biometrics
work best with regular use.

The difference between physiological and behavioural methods is

important. The degree of intrapersonal variation is smaller in physical
characteristics than in a behavioural one. Developers of behaviour-based
systems, therefore have a tougher job adjusting for an individual’s
variability. However, machines that measure physical characteristics
tend to be larger and more expensive, and friendlier. Either technique
affords a much more reliable level of identification than passwords or
cards alone.

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2
 GENERIC MODEL OF BIOMETRICS

4.1 Data Collection:-

Data collection involves use of sensors to detect & measure an
individual’s physiological or behavioural characteristics. The biometric
feature must have the following characteristics:-
(a) Universality: - which means that every person should have the
characteristic,
(b) Uniqueness: - two persons should not have the same term or
measurement of
characteristic
(c) Permanence: - the characteristic should be invariant with time,
(d) Measurability: - the characteristic can be quantified that is the origin
of the

Cameras used in biometric systems are generally either CCD (charge

couple device) or CMOS (combined metal oxide semiconductor) image
sensors. CCD is comparatively more costly than CMOS. The cost of CCD
is nearly Rs 2500 and CMOS is about Rs 800 to Rs 1000. Price depends
on the resolution which reflects the accuracy of biometric system.

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4.2 Transmission: -
Not all the biometric systems process and store data on the measuring
device. Often measurement is made using relatively simple device to a
computer or server for processing and/or storage. Depending on the
system, the data may be relatively large and thus would need to be
compressed for quick transfer. The compression algorithm needs to be
selected carefully; otherwise it may introduce some artefacts that could
impact the decision process. In any image scanning Biometric system,
JPEG compression is preferred due to the block ness it produces at high
compression ratios. The data can also be transmitted to the database for
storage as raw data.

4.3 Signal Processing:-

The signal processing unit uses features extraction algorithms to extract
true biometric information from the sample in presence of noise
introduced during data collection and transmission. Additional
measurements are made if any flaw or corruption is noted, to ensure
good quality. Pattern matching involves comparing the feature ample to
a stored sample. (The biometric data can be stored locally on the
biometric data can be stored locally on the biometric device, some
central database/server, or on a smart card issued to users.) The result of
the comparison is sent to the decision system to determine the match.

4.4 Decision Making:-

The final step is the decision to accept or reject user, and is based on a
security threshold. The threshold value is either a parameter of
comparison process itself, or the system compares the resulting match
value with the threshold value. If for example, in a system performing
identity verification, the match value is equal to or higher than the
threshold value, the user is accepted. In an identification system,
acceptance might require a match value that is both higher than
threshold value and higher than the second-best match by a specific
amount.

4.5 Data Storage:-

After extracting the biometric features, the system stores and maintains
the new master template. Choosing proper discriminating characteristics
for categorizing records can facilitate future searches. The system stores
the templates in one of four locations: a card, a server’s central
database, a workstation, or an authentication terminal. If privacy is a
concern, a card is the only choice because sensitive biometric data
should not be stored (and potentially misused) in a central database.

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 PHASES OF BIOMETICS

5.1 Input: -
Using appropriate input device it will collect the data of the person’s
biological features. These features are known as the master key for the
computer.
Let us put in a simple manner.
For recording and converting biometric traits to usable computer data,
one needs
an appropriate sensor (see table). Of course, costs can greatly vary for
different
sensors. However, we can't forget that many technical devices already
have
sensors built in, and therefore, offer possibilities to measure biometric
features
nearly free of cost.

5.2 Process: -

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The input data is processed. Here, computer takes the measurement of
inputted Biological features. No two persons have same finger print. So,
computer joins the points of that finger print features and make the
pattern of it and it will store that pattern into its memory. Then computer
compares this pattern against the master keys.

• e.g.: - Putting the tracing paper on Indian map, if we join Bangalore,

Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur,
Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Lukhnow drawing a line then by chance the
original map is lost. Now if we want to know the distance between
Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar for that we require the original one, which is
drawn with the same measurement. But In this case, actual map is lost
so we are helpless. Similarly, the finger print used by the computer to
make its pattern is deliberately hidden. Thus, the security system does
not allow any unauthorized person.

5.3 Output: -
In this phase the processed data is tested and access rights are given to
the user accordingly. Here, when any person scanned his/her finger print,
the computer will store a Bio-logical featured pattern and compares it
against the stored master-Key in its memory. If it is matched, then
permission granted else not.

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 VARIOUS BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS
6.1 HAND: -
The three dimensional shape of a person’s hand has several advantages
as an Identification device. Scanning a hand and producing a result takes
1.2 seconds. It requires little space for data storage about 9 bytes which
can fit easily magnetic strip credit cards.

Hand geometry is the grand daddy of biometrics by virtue of its 20 year

old history of live application. Over this span six hand-scan products
have been developed but one commercially viable product currently
available, the ID3D hand key is given below. This device was developed
by Recognition Systems Inc.
The user keys, in an identification code, is then positions his or her and
on a plate between a set of guidance pins. Looking down upon the hand
is a charge-coupled device (CCD) digital camera, which with the help of
mirror captures the side and top view of the hand simultaneously.

The black and white digital image is analysed by software running on a

built in HD 64180 microprocessor. (This a Z-80 base chip) to extract
identifying characteristics from the hand picture. The software compares
those features to the one that was captured when the user was enrolled
in the system, and signals the result-match or no match. Analysis is
based on the measurement and comparison of geometric. The
magnification factor of the camera is known and is calibrated for pixels
per inch of real distance. Then the dimensions of parts of the hand, such
as finger length, width and area are measured, adjusted according to
calibration marks on the platen and used to determine the identifying
geometric of the hand.

A strong correlation exists between the dimension of the hand. For

example if the little finger is long, the index finger will most likely also be
along. Some 400 hands were measured to determine these
interrelationships, and the results are integrated into the system as a set
of matrices are applied to measured geometric to produce the 9 byte
identity feature vector that is stored in the system during enrolment,
with this amount of data compression, the current 4.5 kg unit with single
printed circuit board can store 2000 identities.

Enrolment involves taking three hands reading and averaging the

resulting vectors. Users can enrol themselves with minimal help. When
used for identification the 9-byte vector is compared to the stored vector
and score based on the scalar difference is stored. Low scores indicate a
small difference; high scores mean a poor match. The recognition
systems product fine-tunes the reference vector a small increment at a

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time, in case the original template was made under less than perfect
conditions.

There are so many other systems for hand recognition. One was an effort
by SRI international, to take pictures of unconstrained hands help in free
space. This system was introduced in 1985. Biometrics Inc., Tokyo’s
Toshiba Corp. Identification corp. etc are some companies which
developed biometrics systems.

6.2 FINGER PRINT

Perhaps most of the work in biometrics identification has gone into the
fingerprint For general security and computer access control application
fingerprints are gaining popularity.

The fingerprint’s stability and uniqueness is well established. Based upon

a century of examination, it is estimated that the change of two people,
including twins, having the same print is less than one a billion. In
verifying a print, many devices on the market analyze the position of
details called minutiae such as the endpoints and junctions of print
ridges. These devices assign locations to the minutiae using x, y, and
directional variables. Some devices also count the number of ridges

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between minutiae to form the reference template. Several companies
claim to be developing templates of under 100 bytes. Other machine
approach the finger as an image processing problem and applying
custom very large scale integrated chips, neural networks, fuzzy logic
and other technologies to the matching problem.

The fingerprint recognition technology was developed for some 12 years

before being matched in 1983 by Identix Inc.

The Identix system uses a compact terminal that incorporates light and
CCD image sensors to take high-resolution picture of a fingerprint. It
based on 68000 CPU with additional custom chips, but can also be
configured as a peripheral for an IBM PC. It can operate as a standalone
system or as part of a network.

To enrol a user is assigned a personal identification number and then

puts a single finger on the glass or Plexiglas plate for scanning by a CCD
image sensor. The 250-KB image is digitalized and analyzed, and the
result is approximately 1-KB mathematical characterization of the
fingerprint. This takes about 30 seconds. Identity verifications take less
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than 1 second. The equipment generally gives the user three attempts
for acceptance or finds rejection. With the first attempt the false
rejection is around 2-3 percent and false acceptance is less than 0.0001
per cent. Each standalone unit cab stores 48 fingerprint templates which
may be expanded to 846 by installing an additional memory package.

Fingerprints have overcome the stigma of their use in law enforcement

and military applications. Finger print recognition is appropriate for many
applications and is familiar idea to most people even if only from crime
dramas on television. It is non-intrusive, user friendly and relatively
inexpensive.

6.3 FACE: -
Biometrics developers have also not lost sight of fact that humans use
the face as their primary method of telling who’s who. More than a dozen
effort to develop automated facial verification or recognition systems use
approaches ranging from pattern recognition based on neural networks
to infrared scans of ‘hot spots’ on the face.

Using the whole face for automatic identification is a complex task

because its appearance is constantly changing. Variations in facial
expressions, hair tyles and facial hair, head position, camera scale and
lighting create image that are usually different from the image captured
on a film or videotape earlier. The application of advanced image
processing techniques and the use of neural networks for classifying the
images, however, has made the job possible.

Artificial neural networks are massively connected parallel networks of

simple computing elements. Their design mimics the organization and
performance of biological neural networks in the nervous system and the
brain. They can learn and adapt and be taught to recognize patterns
both static and dynamic. Also their interconnected parallel structure
allows for a degree of fault tolerance as individual computing elements
become inoperative. Neural networks are being used for pattern
recognition function approximation, time series analysis and disk control.

There is only one system available on the market today. The system is
developed by Neuro Metric Vision system Inc. this can recognize faces
with a few constraints as possible, accommodating a range of camera
scales and lighting environments, along with changes in expression and
facial hair and in head positions. The work sprang from the realisation
that such techniques as facial image comparisons, measurement of key
facial structure and the analysis of facial geometry could be used in face
recognition system. Any of these approaches might employ rule-based
logic or a neural network for the image classification process.

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The Neuro-metric system operates on an IBM-compatible 386 or 486
personal computer with a maths co-processor, a digital signal processing
card and a frame grabber card to convert raster scan frames from an
attached camera in to pixel representations. The system can capture
images from black and white video cameras or video recorders in real
time.

Software running on the DSP card locates the face in the video frame,
scales and rotates if necessary, compensating for lighting differences
and performs mathematical transformations to reduce the face to a set
of floating point feature vectors. The feature vector set is input to the
neural network trained to respond by matching it to one of the trained
images in as little as 1 seconds.

The system’s rejection level can be tuned by specifying the different

signal to noise ratios for the match – a high ratio to specify a precise
match, and a lower one to allow more facial variation. In a tightly
controlled environment, for example, the system could set up to
recognise a person only when looking at the camera with same
expression he or she had when initially enrolled in the system.

To enrol someone in the Neuro Metric system, the face is captured, the
feature vectors extracted, and the neural network is trained on the
features. Greyscale facial images may be presented from live video or
photographs via videodisk. The neural network is repeatedly trained until
it learns all the faces and consistently identifies every image. The system
uses neural network clusters of 100-200 faces to build its face
recognition database. If multiple clusters are required they can be
accessed sequentially or hierarchically. When faces are added to or
detected from the database, only the affected clusters must be
retrained, which takes 3-5 minutes.

6.4 EYE
The other method of identification involves the eye. Two types of eye
identification are possible, scanning the blood vessel pattern on the
retina and examining the pattern of the structure of the iris. Now we can
look through a detailed description of each type below.

6.4.1 RETINA
Retina scans, in which a weak infrared light is directed through the
pupil to the back of the eye, have been commercially available
since1985. The retinal pattern is reflected back to a charge-coupled
device (CCD) Camera, which captures the unique pattern and
represents it in less than 35 bytes of information. Retina scans are
one of the best biometrics performers on the market, with low false
reject rates and nearly 0 present false accept rate. The technology

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 also offers small data templates provides quick identity
confirmations, and handles well the job of recognizing individuals in
a database of under 500 people. The toughest hurdle for retinal scan
technology is user resistance. People don’t want to put their eye as
close to the device as necessary. Only one company, Eyedentyfy
Inc., produces retinal scan products.

6.4.2 IRIS
Once it was the whites of their eyes that counted. Retinal pattern
recognition has been tried but found uncomfortable because the
individual must touch or remain very close to a retinal scanner. Now
the iris is the focus of a relatively new biometrics means of
identification. Standard monochrome video or photographic
technology in combination with robust software and standard video
imaging techniques can accept or reject an iris at distance of 30-45
cm.

A device that examines the human iris is being developed by Iriscan

Inc. The technique’s big advantage over retinal scans is that it does
not require the user to move close to the device and focus on a
target because the iris pattern is on the eye’s surface. In fact the
video image of an eye can be taken at distance of a metre or so, and
the user need not interact with device at all.

The technology being implemented by Iriscan Inc., is based on

principles developed and planted by ophthalmologists Leonard Flom
and Aran Safir and on mathematical algorithms developed by John
Daugman. In their practice, Flom and Safir observed that every iris
had highly detailed and unique texture that remains stable over
decades of life. This part of the eye is one of the most striking
features of the face. It is easily visible from yards away a s a
coloured disk, behind the clear protective window of the cornea,
surrounded by the white tissue of the eye. Observable features
include contraction furrows striations, pits, collagenons fibres,
filaments, crypts, serpentine, vasculature, rings and freckles. The
structure of iris is unique, as in fingerprint, but it boasts
more than six times as many distinctly different characteristics as
the finger print. This part of the eye, moreover cannot surgically
modified without damage to vision. It is produced from damage or
internal changes by the cornea and it responds to light, a natural
test against artifice.

6.5 SPEECH
Another biometrics approach that is attractive because of its
acceptability to users is voice verification. All the systems used in
analyzing the voice are rooted in more broadly based speech processing
technology. Currently, voice verification is being used in access control

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for medium security areas or for situations involving many people as in
offices and lab. There are two approaches to voice verification. One is
using dedicated hardware and software at the point of access .The
second approach is using personal computer host configurations that
drive a network over regular phone lines.

One of the latest implementation of the technology is the recently

demonstrated AT&T Smart Card used in an automatic teller system. The
AT&T prototype stores an individual’s voice pattern on a memory card,
the size of a credit card. In brief, someone opening an account at a bank
has to speak a selected two or three-syllable word eight items. The word
can be chosen by the user and belong to any language or dialect.

Another approach being as an alternative to the algorithms discussed is

based on Hidden Markov Models, which consider the probability of state
changes and allow the system to predict what the speaker is trying to
say. This capability would be crucial for speaker independent recognition.
Storing voice templates on a card and receiving and processing voice
information at a local device, such as ATM, eliminated variations due to
telephone connection and types of telephones used.

6.6 SPEAKER VERIFICATION

The speaker- specific characteristics of speech are due to differences in
physiological and behavioural aspects of the speech production system
in humans. The main physiological
aspect of the human speech
production system is the vocal tract
shape. The vocal tract is generally
considered as the speech production
organ above the vocal folds, which
consists of the following: (a) laryngeal
pharynx ( beneath the epiglottis), (b)
oral pharynx ( behind the tongue,
between the epiglottis and velum ),
( c) oral cavity ( forward of the velum
and bounded by the lips, tongue, and
palate ), (d) nasal pharynx ( above
the velum, rear end of nasal cavity ),
and (e) nasal cavity (above the palate
and extending from the pharynx to
the nostrils ). The shaded area in
figure 4 depicts the vocal tract.

The vocal tract modifies the spectral content of an acoustic wave as it

passes through it, thereby producing speech. Hence, it is common in
speaker verification systems to make use of features derived only from
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the vocal tract. In order to characterize the features of the vocal tract,
the human speech production mechanism is represented as a discrete-
time system of the form depicted in the below figure.

The acoustic wave is produced when the airflow from the lungs is carried
by the trachea through the vocal folds. The source of excitation can be
characterized as phonation, whispering, friction, compression, vibration,
or a combination of these. Phonated excitation occurs when the airflow is
modulated by the vocal folds. Whispered excitation is produced by
airflow rushing through a small triangular opening between the
arytenoids cartilage at the rear of the nearly closed vocal folds. Friction
excitation is produced by constrictions in the vocal tract. Compression
excitation results from releasing a completely closed and pressurized
vocal tract. Vibration excitation is caused by air being forced through a
closure other than the vocal folds, especially at the tongue. Speech
produced by phonated excitation is called voiced, that produced by
phonated excitation plus friction is called mixed voiced, and that
produced by other types of excitation is called unvoiced.

It is possible to represent the vocal-tract in a parametric form as the

transfer function H (z). In order to estimate the parameters of H (z) from
the observed speech waveform, it is necessary to assume some form for
H (z). Ideally, the transfer function should contain poles as well as zeros.
However, if only the voiced regions of speech are used then an all-pole
model for H (z) is sufficient. Furthermore, linear prediction analysis can
be used to efficiently estimate the parameters of an all-pole model.
Finally, it can also be noted that the all-pole model is the minimum-phase

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part of the true model and has an identical magnitude spectra, which
contains the bulk of the speaker-dependent information.

COMPARISION OF BIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES

7.1 Uniqueness of biometric features
Table shows the cross accuracy of different biometrics.
Biometrics Crossover Accuracy
Retinal Scan 1:10,000,000+
Iris Scan 1:131,000
Fingerprints 1:500
Hand Geometry 1:500
Signature Dynamiques 1:50
Voice Dynamiques 1:50

Crossover accuracy is the ratio of the crossover frequency as compared

to the whole population of test data. The smaller the crossover accuracy,
the more unique the biometrics is. It should be noted that comparison
across biometrics is by no means measurable. Even the quality of same
biometrics is difficult to judge unless the results are tested on the same
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data set. [O’Gorman, 1999]. Therefore, sufficient bias is expected from
the readers as well.

Signature dynamics and voice dynamics have the lowest accuracy rates
according to [Ruggles, 1998]. In addition, these two techniques rely on
behavioural measurements as opposed to physical measurements. In
general, behavioural biometrics is less reliable than physical biometrics.

Retinal scan has high accuracy but also has a high data collection error
rate and low user acceptability. For this reason, retinal scan exists only in
science fiction movies but not in real life applications.

The fingerprint biometric has a low data collection error rate and high
user
acceptability. Further, fingerprint technology has had the most research
and
development money applied to both identification and authentication
problem.
Finally, fingerprint biometrics has the highest acceptance in the
identification community and virtually every large biometrics system in
operation today uses
fingerprint biometrics. Notwithstanding its association with "criminal"
applications, fingerprint biometrics is generally accepted by clients.

The chosen biometrics in this project, i.e., face and voice, are based on
user acceptability and another important factor, the availability of
resources in the laboratory. Once the system is established, moving into
other biometrics would be
easier.

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Comparison of biometrics technologies based on perception of three biometrics experts according to
[Jain, 1999]

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 HOW WELL DOES BIOMETRICS WORK
Biometric devices can be adjusted to favour security or user convenience. How well do Biometrics
work? It depending on four points.

8.1 False Accept Rates

• The probability that a biometric device will allow an unauthorized
person is called the "False Accept Rate”.
• False Accept Rates claimed for today's biometric access systems
range from 0.0001% to 0.1%.
• It's important to remember that the only way an unauthorized
person can get access is if a unauthorized person tries. Thus, the
False Accept Rate must be multiplied by the number of attempts by
unauthorized person to determine the number of possible occurrences.

8.2 False Reject Rates

• The probability that a biometric device won't recognize an
authorized person is called the "False Reject Rate”.
• The False Reject Rates quoted for current biometric systems range
from 0.00066% to 1.0%.

• A low False Reject Rate is very important for most applications,

since users will become extremely frustrated if they're denied
access by a device that has previously recognized them.

8.3 Equal Error Rates

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 • The point where false accept and false reject curves cross is called
the "Equal Error Rate”.
• Error curves give a patternical representation of a biometric
device's "personality."
• The Equal Error Rate provides a good indicator of the unit's
performance. The smaller the Equal Error Rate, the better.

8.4 Validity of Test Data

• Here, it checks for validity of the processed data and decides
whether the person is authorized or not.
• Testing biometrics is difficult, because of the extremely low error
rates involved. To attain any confidence in the statistical results,
thousands of transactions must be examined.
• It's important to remember that error rates are statistical: they are
derived from a series of transactions by a population of users.
• In general, the larger the population and the greater the number of
transactions, the greater the confidence level in the accuracy of the
results.
• If the reported error rate is 1:10, then a sample of 100 transactions
may provide a sufficient confidence level. Conversely, a 100-
transaction sample would be too small if the error rate was
reported as 1:100,000.

Biometric devices are extremely secure, thanks to the combination of

low False Accept Rates at moderate sensitivity settings, combined with a
short user keypad code.

At the same time, biometrics is extremely convenient and error free,

thanks to low False Reject Rates.

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 ABOUT BIOMETRICS
9.1 Will Biometric Solve All Security Concerns?
• No System can be 100% Safe
• Biometric Measures can be Very Successful in Fighting Today's Security
Concerns
• Major Drawback in Adopting Biometric Systems is that concerned
person
needs to be Physically

9.2 Which is the best technique among above?

Accordingly, the pattern of iris is the best one to recognize a person.
Because the possibility of two persons having the same iris pattern is 1
per 1000 million, the population of earth is 6 million so eyes are 12
million and that is why probability is not at least 1%.

9.3 Is Bio-metrics more "secure" than passwords?

This question at least poses two problems: biometrics is not equal to
biometrics, and the term "secure" is in fact commonly used, but it is not
exactly defined. However, we can try to collect pros and cons in order to
find at least an intuitive answer.

It is a matter of fact that the security of password protected values in

particular depends on the user. If the user has to memorize too many
passwords, he will to use the same passwords for as many applications
as possible. If this is not possible, he will go to construct very simple
passwords. If this will also fail (e.g., if the construction rules are too
complex), the next fallback stage is to notify the password on paper. This
would transform "secret knowledge" into "personal possession". Of
course, not every user will react this way. Rather the personal motivation
plays an important role: is he aware of the potential loss caused by
careless handling of the password? It is easy if the user is the owner. But
often foreign possession (e.g., that of the employer) has to be guarded,
whose value one often can hardly estimate. If motivation is missing, any
password primarily tends to be felt bothersome. In this case, and that
seems to be the normal case, it is assumed that biometrics has
considerable advantages.

Contrariwise, passwords feature unbeatable theoretic protection ability:

an eight-digit password which is allowed to contain any symbol from an
8-bit alphabet offers 1020 possible combinations! This is a real challenge
for any biometric feature. The requirements are obvious: such a
password is maximally difficult to learn, it must not be written down, it
must not be passed to anyone, the input must take place absolutely
secret, it must not be extorted, and the technical implementations must

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be perfect. This leads us to the practical aspects: the implementation
must be protected against replay attacks, keyboard dummies (e.g., false
ATMs), wiretapping etc. Even biometric features have to cope with such
problems. However, it can be assumed that the protection of biometric
feature acquisition is not easier than the acquisition of the password,
provided the implementation expense is comparable.

9.4 Where BIO-METRICS is used?

For Security
• Protect Sensitive Data
• High degree of identity certainty in transactions
• Create databases with singular identities
For Accountability
• Improve auditing / reporting / record keeping
• Time keeping
For Efficiency
• Reduce password-related problems

It is also used in following areas.

• Enterprise-wide network security infrastructures
• Secure electronic banking, investing and other financial transactions
• Retail sales
• Law enforcement
• Health & Social services

9.5 Near Future Technologies

In near future, every person might be having a Bio-Chip in their body.
The Bio-chip concept is recently used in African Safaris to trap the
activities and diseases of animals. For this every animal has a Bio-Chip in
its body.

Bio-Chips in humans will store identification information. So, in near

future, we may not require to ask “What is your name?”. Just shake
hands and allow the Bio-Chips to interact and it will know the person’s
identification.

We don’t know, but biometric identification may include brain chemistry

because everyone has got different brain chemistries. Nowadays, a Bio-
Processor chip is available, which recognizes the bacteria that can cause
diseases that spread through blood, saliva and urine in few minutes
instead of hours.

9.6 Benefits of Adopting Biometrics

• No Need to Remember Passwords:
As it uses our biometry we are not supposed to give any password.
Because where ever we go our finger print, iris pattern, our face, voice
definitely with us.

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• Unauthorized Access to Personal Data can be prevented:
It is a one type of security system that no one can hack it because they
do not have our fingerprint, iris, voice, face etc. So, it prevents the data
from an unauthorized person.

• Fraudulent Use of ATMs, Credit Cards can be prevented:

None can use our ATM just by knowing our PIN because no number or
password is there.

MULTI –BIOMETRICS
10.1 Integrating Faces and Fingerprints for Personal
Identification

An automatic personal identification system based on fingerprints or

faces is often not able to meet the system performance requirements.
Face recognition is fast but not reliable while fingerprint verification is
reliable but inefficient in database retrieval. A prototype biometric
system is developed which integrates faces and fingerprints.

The system overcomes the limitations of face recognition systems as well

as fingerprint verification systems. The integrated prototype system
operates in the identification mode with an admissible response time.
The identity established by the system is more reliable than the identity
established by a face recognition system. In addition, the proposed
decision fusion schema enables performance improvement by
integrating multiple cues with different confidence measures.
Experimental results demonstrate that our system performs very well. It
meets the response time as well as the accuracy requirements.

10.2 A Multimodal Biometric System Using Fingerprint, Face and

Speech

A biometric system which relies only on a single biometric identifier in

making personal identifications, often, may not be able to meet the
desired performance requirements. Identification based on multiple
biometrics represents on emerging trend. A multimodal biometric system
is introduced (figure given below), which integrates face recognition,
fingerprint verification, and speaker verification in making a personal
identification.

This system takes advantage of the capabilities of each individual

biometric. It can be used to overcome some of the limitations of a single
biometrics. Preliminary experimental results demonstrate that the
identity established by such an integrated system is more reliable than
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the identity established by a face recognition system, a fingerprint
verification system and a speaker verification system.

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 CONCLUSION
A range of biometric systems are in developments or on the market
because no one system meets all needs. The trade off in developing
these systems involve component cost, reliability, discomfort in using a
device, the amount of data needed and other factors. But the application
of advanced digital techniques has made the job possible. Further
experiments are going all over the world. In India also there is a great
progress in this field. So we can expect that in the near future itself, the
biometric systems will become the main part in identification purposes.