BIOMETRICS

Your Body as Password

INTRODUCTION
Reliable authorization and authentication has become an integral part of every mans life for a number of routine applications. Biometrics is a method of recognizing a person based on physiological or behavioural characteristics. The term "biometrics" is derived from the Greek words bios (life) and metron (to measure).

HISTORY
Many of the new automated techniques, however, are based on ideas that were originally conceived hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Biometrics has been around since 29,000 BC when cavemen would sign their drawings with handprints. In 500 BC Babylonian business transactions were signed in clay tablets with fingerprints. First robust system for indexing fingerprints was developed in India by Azizul Haque for Edward Henry, Inspector General of Bengal, India. This system, called the Henry System, and variations on it are still in use for classifying fingerprints.

Automated Biometric System

a pattern recognition system which makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioural characteristic possessed by the user. used for two authentication methods Identification is determining who a person is. Determining the identity of a crime suspect. Verification is the process of authenticating if a person is who he/she says he/she is. Accessing places or information.

General Structure of Automated Biometric System

INPUT DATA FEATURE EXTRACTION

DECISION

IDENTIFICATION/ VERIFICATION

DATABASE

Biometric System Classification

Automated Biometric Systems can be sorted into 2 classes Physiological: Based on physical features. Face, Fingerprint, Hand geometry, Iris recognition etc. Behavioral: Based on behavior. Signature, Voice, Lip motion, Key stroke etc.

Common Biometric Systems

Other Biometric Systems oThermo grams oKeystroke oEar recognition oSkin reflection oLip motion oBody odor oVein pattern oSweat pores oFingernail Bed oHand Grip oBrain wave pattern oFoot Print and Foot Dynamics

Fingerprint Recognition Face Recognition Voice Recognition Iris Recognition Hand Geometry Signature verification DNA Retina Recognition

Fingerprint Recognition
involves taking an image of a person's fingertips and records its characteristics like whorls, arches, and loops along with the patterns of ridges, furrows, and minutiae. Uses the ridge endings and bifurcation's on a persons finger to plot points known as Minutiae The number and locations of the minutiae vary from finger to finger in any particular person, and from person to person for any particular finger.
Finger Image
Finger Image+ Minutiae Minutiae

Face Recognition
Uses an image or series of images either from a camera or photograph to recognize a person. This technique records face images through a digital video camera and analyses facial characteristics like the distance between eyes, nose, mouth, and jaw edges. These measurements are broken into facial planes and retained in a database, further used for comparison. Highly complex technology and largely software based. Primary advantage is that the biometric system is able to operate hands-free and a users identity is confirmed by simply staring at the screen.

Voice Recognition
combines physiological and behavioural factors to produce speech patterns that can be captured by speech processing technology. Inherent properties of the speaker like fundamental frequency, nasal tone, cadence, inflection, etc. are used for speech authentication. Popular and low-cost, but less accurate and sometimes lengthy enrollment.

Iris Recognition
Analysis of the iris of the eye, which is the colored ring of tissue that surrounds the pupil of the eye. Based on visible features, i.e. rings, furrows, freckles and the corona. Features and their location are used to form the Iriscodes, which is the digital template. The scans use a regular video camera and works through glasses and contact lenses.

Hand Geometry
as the name suggests, involves the measurement and analysis of the human hand. Features like length and width of the fingers, aspect ratio of the palm or fingers, width of the palm, thickness of the palm are computed. Hand geometry systems are commonly available in two main forms. Full hand geometry systems take an image of the entire hand for comparison while Two Finger readers only image two fingers of the hand.

Signature Verification
is an instance of writer recognition, which has been accepted as irrefutable evidence in courts of laws. The way a person signs his name is known to be a characteristic of that individual. Approach to signature verification is based on features like number of interior contours and number of vertical slope components.
Cyber-SIGN PenOp CIC Communication Intelligence Corp.

DNA
DNA has been called the ultimate identifier. Identify information from every cell in the body in a digital form. Not yet fully automated, not fast and expensive Theoretical limitation: Identical twins have the same DNA. Privacy issue DNA contains information about race, paternity, and medical conditions for certain disease.

Retina Recognition
The pattern of blood vessels that emanate from the optic nerve and disperse throughout the retina depends on individuals and never changes. The eyes inherent isolation and protection from the external environment as an internal organ of the body is a benefit. Retina scan is used in high-end security applications like military installations and power plants. No two retinas are the same, even in identical twins.

Other Biometric System

Thermograms

Gait

Body Odor Recognition

Ear Recognition

Lip Motion

Conclusion
Biometrics can be used by various organizations to increase security levels and protect their data and patents. The merit of biometrics is proven by endeavours of the G8 countries to apply it to prevent forgery of passports and other travel documents as part of their fight against terrorism. Without doubt the age of biometrics is here and the technology will directly affect everyone over the next few years.