From the course: CISSP Cert Prep (2021): 5 Identity and Access Management

Biometrics

From the course: CISSP Cert Prep (2021): 5 Identity and Access Management

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Biometrics

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- [Instructor] Biometrics provide a means of identifying someone based upon one or more physical characteristics. They often act as both identification and authentication mechanisms and fall into a category of authentication factors known as something you are. Good biometric authentication techniques balance the difficulty of use with the degree of security that they provide. Effective systems provide easy enrollment. The initial setup of a user may require administrator assistance, but it's accomplished fairly quickly and with a minimum of fuss. They also have low false acceptance rates. They don't admit unauthorized people inadvertently. These systems should also have low false rejection rates, meaning that they don't turn people away who should be admitted. And finally, they should have low intrusiveness. They should pass the creepiness test with users. There are a wide variety of biometric authentication techniques in use today. Fingerprint readers are commonly found on laptop computers, smartphones, tablets, and similar devices. Using a fingerprint, the user completes a self-enrollment process when they set up their account, and the fingerprint serves as both an identification and authentication tool. These processes are well-liked because they have low false acceptance and rejection rates and they're not usually seen as overly intrusive. Eye scans examine either the color patterns of the iris or the blood vessel patterns in the retina. Many users dislike eye scans because they feel intrusive, so they're not commonly used outside of high-security physical buildings. Voiceprint identification asks users to repeat a phrase and then compares their voice to a stored sample. Voiceprint identification is subject to replay attacks where an attacker records the user's voice, so they're not commonly used unless they're combined with other authentication tools. Facial recognition technology scans a user's face and compares it to a stored image. Many users consider this technology pretty creepy. In the past, facial recognition technology had a high false rejection rate, but the technology has improved over the years and is becoming more commonplace. These aren't the only biometric techniques in use today. You'll find systems out there that analyze the vein patterns in your hand, the geometry of your hand, and even your gait as you walk. Biometric identification is increasing in popularity as users turn away from the inconvenience of identifying and authenticating themselves with a keyboard. As authentication tools, they're much harder to fool than passwords and other knowledge-based approaches.

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