INTRODUCTION

The word biometrics comes from the Greek words bios and metric,
meaning'' life measurement''. By measuring something unique
about an individual and using that to identify them, we can achieve
a dramatic improvement in security of the key store. Biometrics
refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one
or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In information
technology, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity
access management and access control. It is also used to identify
individuals in groups that are under surveillance.

Biometrics involves using the different parts of the body, such as

the fingerprint or the eye, as a password or form of identification.

Biometric scanning is used for two major purposes: identification

and authentication. Identification is defined as the ability to
identify a person from among all those enrolled. Authentication
involves the verification of a person’s claimed identity from his or
her previously enrolled pattern.

Newer biometric measurements include DNA from tissue

samples, voice pattern, face pattern or even the arrangement of
blood vessels in the retina or pattern of coloration in the cornea of
the eye.

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 HISTORY OF BIOMETRICS
Joao de Barros, an explorer and writer, wrote that Chinese
merchants used a form of biometrics by stamping children’s palm
prints and footprints on paper with ink .In doing this, the Chinese
solved a way to distinguish young children from one another. This
is one of the earliest known cases of biometrics .Later an
anthropologist named Alphonse Bertillion sought to fix the
problem of identifying convicted criminals. He found that even if
names changed, even if a person comes in disguise, certain
elements of the body remained fixed. This led him to form a
method of measuring the distinguishable parts of a person’s body,
which never changed throughout their life. Whenever a new
criminal was caught, instead of taking down their name, the
authorities would measure them and look for a matching card. This
system was adopted by prisons and police stations across the
country and world. As technology got more and more advanced,
the ways to distinguish the different biometrical signalments has
become more and more precise which has led to the field of
biometric technologies that we live in today.

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CATEGORIES OF BIOMETRICS
1. Physiological- (also known as static biometrics): Biometrics
based on data derived from the measurement of a part of a
person’s anatomy. They are related to the shape of the body
for example, fingerprints and iris patterns, as well as facial
features, hand geometry and retinal blood vessels.

2. Behavioral – are related to the behavior of a person i.e. based

on data derived from measurement of an action performed by
a person for example, typing rhythm, gait, and voice (speaker
verification).

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 BIOMETRIC SYSTEM
COMPONENTS
What do I need to make it

-capture device (sensor)

• Fingerprint reader , vedio camera,etc

-algoritham

• Processing (feature extraction)

• Maching

-repository

• Place to store enrolled biometric template (for

later compassion)

• Should be protected (secure area ,signed

/encrypted ,etc)

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 BIOMETRIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE

Raw Extracted
Data data features Template
collection Signal Matching Storage
processing

Match
score

Application Authentication Decision

decision

• Data Collection-Comprises input device or sensor that reads

the biometric information from the user and converts
biometric information into a suitable form for processing by
the remainder of the biometric system

Examples: video camera, fingerprint scanner, digital tablet,

microphone etc.

• Signal processing subsystem (feature extraction)-

Receives raw biometric data from the data collection
subsystem transforms the data into the form required by
matching subsystem discriminating features extracted from
the raw biometric data filtering may be applied to remove
noise

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• Matching subsystem-Key role in the biometric
system.Receives processed biometric data from signal
processing subsystem and biometric template from storage
subsystem.Measures the similarity of the claimant’s sample
with the reference template.Typical methods distance
metrics, probabilistic measures, neural networks, etc

• Decision subsystem- Interprets the match score from the

matching subsystem. A threshold is defined. If the score is
above the threshold, the user is authenticated. If it is below,
the user is rejected.

Typically a binary decision: Yes or No may require more

than one submitted samples to reach a decision: 1 out of 3.

• Storage subsystem- Maintains the templates for enrolled

users. There can be one or more templates for each user.

The templates may be stored in:

1. Physically protected storage within the biometric device

2. Conventional database
3. Portable tokens, such as a smartcard

• Transmission subsystem- Subsystems are logically

separate.They may be physically integrated.Usually, there
are separate physical entities in a biometric system.Biometric
data has to be transmitted between the different physical
entities.

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 PHYSIOLOGICAL BIOMETRICS
FINGERPRINT - analyzing fingertip
patterns
Among all the physiological biometric techniques, fingerprint-
based identification is the oldest method, which has been
successfully used in numerous applications. Everyone is known to
have unique, immutable fingerprints. A fingerprint is made of a
series of ridges and furrows on the surface of the finger. The
uniqueness of a fingerprint can be determined by the pattern of
ridges and furrows as well as the minutiae points.

Capture Techniques:

1. Flat Scan or Swipe across

2. Rolled (“Ten print”)
3. Slap (four flat fingers at a time)

Sensor Types

1. Optical
2. Silicon
3. Ultrasonic

Features:

1. Long time use- proven

2. High accuracy
3. General ease and speed of use
4. Numerous vendor selections

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 FACIAL RECOGNITION

This physiological method analyzes the geometry of the face or the

relative distance between features (e.g. nose and mouth).It can
combine features with skin texture. The user faces the camera,
standing about two feet from it. The system will locate the user's
face and perform matches against the claimed identity or the facial
database. It is possible that the user may need to move and re
attempt the verification based on his facial position. The system
usually comes to a decision in less than 5 seconds.

Capture Techniques:

1. Still Camera
2. Video
3. Thermal Imaging

Algorithm Categories:

1. Local feature analysis

2. Eigenfaces
3. Neural Networks
4. Surface Texture Analysis

Features:

1. Can use standard video cameras

2. No physical contact required
3. Can be used with previously compiled photo databases
4. Can be fused with skin biometrics to enhance accuracy

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RETINAL SCAN - analyzing blood vessels in
the eye

The patterns of blood vessels on the back of the human eye are
unique to each individual. Oldest biometrics as 1930's research
suggested scanning involves using a low-intensity light source and
an optical coupler to read the patterns at a great level of accuracy.
A retinal scan involves the use of a low-intensity coherent light
source, which is projected onto the retina to illuminate the blood
vessels which are then photographed and analysed. A coupler is
used to read the blood vessel patterns. Retina scans require that the
person removes his/her glasses, place their eye close to the
scanner, stare at a specific point, and remain still, and focus on a
specified location for approximately 10 to 15 seconds while the
scan is

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 [Retinal recognition system [Icam 2001 by
Eyedentify]

Retina scan devices are probably the most accurate biometric

available today. The continuity of the retinal pattern throughout
life and the difficulty in fooling such a device also make it a great
long-term, high-security option.

Unfortunately, the cost of the proprietary hardware as well as the

inability to evolve easily with new technology make retinal scan
devices a bad fit for most situations. It also has the stigma of
consumer's thinking it is potentially harmful to the eye, and in
general not easy to use.
A retina scan cannot be faked as it is currently impossible to forge
a human retina. Furthermore, the retina of a deceased person
decays too rapidly to be used to deceive a retinal scan.
A retinal scan has an error rate of 1 in 10,000,000, compared to
fingerprint identification error being sometimes as high as 1 in
500.

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 IRIS RECOGNITION
Iris recognition uses the iris as the physical characteristic to be
measured. This technique is very reliable as no two irises can ever
be same as the iris contains many randomly distributed immutable
structures. Moreover, the iris does not change over time. By the
use of a standard video technology, its features can be quickly
recorded from about nine inches away, thus eliminating the need
for evasive physical contact.It measures upto 266 unique features.It
is popular for facility access and transportation/border security.

Features:

1. Highly Accurate
2. Very stable over lifetime
3. Not affected by common eye surgeries
4. No physical contact required
5. Works through glasses and contacts

Disadvantage:

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1. You can cheat the iris scanner by putting on lens or glasses.

Behavioral biometrics
1.Voice:
• Speaker Recognition - analyzing vocal behavior-
Voice authentication, also known as “speaker
verification”, is defined as the automated verification of
a person’s claimed identity, based on unique
characteristics of their voice. A simple microphone is
enough to record the voice, and then most of the
algorithm are analyzing the voice spectrum. Voice and
speech can be combined to get a better system.
2. Signature:
• Analyzing Signature Biometrics-

Handwriting recognition system's sensors can include a

touch-sensitive writing surface or a pen that contains
sensors that detect angle, pressure and direction. The
software translates the handwriting into a graph and

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 recognizes the small changes in a person's handwriting
from day to day and over time.

FUTURE RESEARCH
• Body Odor – Future technology can be body odour. A
British company, Mastiff Electronic System Ltd. is working
on such a system
• Keystroke Dynamics – Keystroke dynamics, also referred to
as typing rhythms, is an innovative biometric technology
• Ear shape-The shape of the ear is unique for every
individual. Scientists are working on the principles guiding
this aspect of the body .
• Body Salinity-The hormones of each one of us have a
definite composition which can never be duplicated.This
feature is used to make a foolproof security system.
• Vascular patterns- Vascular patterns are best described as a
picture of the veins in a person's hand or face. The thickness
and location of these veins are believed to be unique enough
to an individual to be used to verify a person's identity. The

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 most common form of vascular pattern readers are hand-
based, requiring the user to place their hand on a curved
reader that takes an infrared scan. This scan creates a picture
that can then be compared to a database to verify the user's
stated identity. Research is going on in this field to remove
all the loopholes.

CONCLUSION

Biometric technology is secure, easy to use, and currently

the best method for verifying a person's identity. Biometrics
offers substantial benefits in addressing the need for reliable
verification of identity. Combining the power of biometrics
with a personal token that can securely carry and deliver the
variety of credentials that are utilised by the different
systems in today's buildings and IT environments – and only
deliver those credentials after a biometric verification of
identity can directly help organisations reduce costs,
streamline the lives of their users, and achieve convergence
of identity across their physical and logical security systems.

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