04/22/23 Security Seminar 1

“Biometrics”

Harj Singh CLAS CISSPSecurity Architect & BS7799 Lead Auditor

harj.singh@synetrix.co.uk

04/22/23 Security Seminar 2

What does Biometrics mean?

• Comes from the Greek words “Bios – life” and “Metron – to measure”.

• Automated methods of verifying or recognising the identity of a living person based on physiological or behavioural characteristics

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Identification or Verification?

• There are two ways of determining if you are you…• Identification

– Establishing a persons identity – Who are you ?– One to many comparison– Biometric sample presented to a system which compares it against a

database of samples in the hope of finding a match• Verification

– Involves confirming or denying a person’s claimed identity - Are you who you claim to be?

– One to one comparison– Biometric sample captured and compared with the previously stored

template for that user (Reference template)

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Which Biometric?

Fingerprint

Facial Scan

Hand Geometry

Signature

Iris / Retina Scan

Voice Recognition

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Fingerprint

• Variety of fingerprint devices available (silicon & optical)• Template constructed by analysing patterns and/or points of

interest that make up the fingerprint (minutia)• Advantages

– Low cost– Size of device and multiple choices– Ease of integration– Accurate – low instances of false acceptance

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Hand Geometry

• Measures the physical characteristics of the user’s hand and fingers

• Low level infrared light and a camera used to capture an image• Suited to applications where there is a large user base or users

access the system infrequently• Flexible performance tuning can accommodate a wide range of

applications • Disadvantages

– Large footprint of hand geometry devices – Only used for verification– Right hand use only

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Iris

• Captures the pattern of flecks on the iris• Pattern processed and encoded into 512 byte record• Uses conventional cameras• Average 2 seconds for identification• Less intrusive than retinal scanning• No physical contact between user and reader (unless very tall

or very short)• Disadvantages

– Ease of use– System integration– Cost

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Retina Scan

• Unique patterns of the retina scanned by a low intensity infrared light

• Image constructed from de-scanned reflected light• Extremely accurate • Fast enrolment process• Disadvantages

– User acceptance – intrusive technology– Cost – Limited to high security applications– Does not perform well where user wears spectacles or has cataracts

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Facial

• Based upon the geometric shape and position of features of the face

• Performs equally well on all races and both genders• Resistant to changes in lighting, skin tone, facial hair, hair

style, eyeglasses, expression and pose• No user participation required in order to perform

identification/verification• Limited success in practical applications• 1 – many matching• Disadvantages

– Perceived to be invasive as covert system

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2D Facial

• Relies on controlled lighting• One photograph per facial position• High failure rate• Can be ‘fooled’

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3D Facial

• 3D technology enables the real-time capture of three-dimensional images of a subject’s face. The unique features of the subject’s cranio-facial structure are extracted and stored as a biometric template for automated human recognition. The method can be used either in identification or in verification..

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3D Facial

• Face Capture– Uses structured light in near-infrared range– A projector shoots an invisible structured light pattern onto the face – The special pattern is distorted by the face’s surface geometry – The video camera precisely records the pattern distortion

• Reconstruction Process– Real-time reconstruction of the 3D facial surface– The distorted pattern is input into a 3D reconstruction algorithm– A 3D mesh of the face is created by means of triangulation– The resulting face geometry is measurable in millimetres– The 3D reconstructed image is NOT stored in the database

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3D Facial

• Feature extraction and matching– A biometric template is extracted from the 3D facial geometry (skull

curvature, etc) – The template is based on the unique rigid tissues of the skull which are

unchanging over time – The resulting numeric template is stored in an ordinary database – Identification is performed by matching the biometric template against

the enrolment database – Verification is performed by matching the biometric template against a

template stored on a smart card

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3D Facial Advantages

• Not affected by lighting conditions, background colours, facial hair or make-up

• Provides higher performance at different view angles • Is of higher accuracy in real-life environments

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Signature

• Based on analysis of the dynamics of a handwritten signature e.g shape, speed, stroke order, pen pressure

• Generally use pressure sensitive tablets or wired pens• User friendly• Non intrusive – minimal public acceptance issues• Captured signature can be used for digitally signing

documents• Disadvantages

– Considered to be one of the least accurate biometrics– Only performs 1 – 1 verification

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Voice Recognition

• Analyses voice patterns and characteristics of speech e.g. pitch, tone

• High user acceptance - perceived as least intrusive biometric technology

• Easy for end users to implement BUT the least secure biometric

• Ideal for telephone systems/ mobile environments• Disadvantages:-

– Affected by environmental factors – background noise greatly affects system performance

– Problems if enrolment undertaken using mobile device then request verification from fixed land line.

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Biometrics – What are the drivers?

• On October 26, 2001 The Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (the “USA Patriot Act”) was enacted.

• On May 14, 2002, the President signed into law H.R. 3525, the "Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002."

Post 9/11…

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H.R.3525

• “The border security bill makes reforms to our immigration system in response to the increased awareness of America’s vulnerability to terrorism after 9/11. It provides for calls for vital improvements in technology to provide more timely information to help with the battle against terrorism. Among the key features:

—Funds for increased border and State Department personnel and training, including 1,000new INS inspections personnel, and $150 million for INS border technology;

—A report, a plan, and protections for an interoperable information-sharing system;—An interoperable information-sharing system with name-matching capacity;—Machine-readable, tamper-resistant biometric travel documents and passports;—Restriction on nonimmigrant visas for aliens from countries that sponsor terrorism;—Reform of the visa waiver program;—Requirement of passenger manifest information for commercial flights and vessels;—Repeal of the 45-minute time limit on INS inspections of arriving passengers; and—Enhanced foreign student monitoring program”

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What Does this mean to the UK?

By Oct 26th 2004 the UK must have introduced biometric enabled travel documents (or have in place advanced plans to do so).

National Institute of Standards and Technology given lead to evaluate biometric technologies.

International Civil Aviation Organisation laid down standard (9303).

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ICAO 9303

• ICAO 9303 requires a digitised facial image of the document holder to be securely attached to the travel document and recommends the use of a Contact-less RF Proximity Smart Card as the carrier. Governments MAY optionally also embed fingerprint and/or iris images.

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What is UK Government Doing ?

Biometric Enabled Passport Book (and maybe Passport Card) in 2005.

Examining use of biometric in UK Driving Licence.

Planning for a National Id Card (long term). ?

UKPS

DVLA

Home Office

(ICU)

Establishing ‘Gold Identity’

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The Joint Contact Group

Unprecedented co-operation and sharing of intelligence between the UK and the USA was agreed at a meeting on Tuesday (1st April 2003) between Home Secretary David Blunkett and US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

At the meeting, Mr Blunkett and Mr Ridge agreed the work should cover “closer working on the development of biometric technology such as iris and facial recognition.”

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UK Law Enforcement

Human identification is a key element in the reduction and investigation of crime and thus a key element in the

provision of effective capabilities to assist the Police Service in meeting strategic objectives. Dr Fred Preston, Director of Identification, PITO

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"... we will legislate this winter to upgrade our secure passport system, to create a new, clean database on which we will understand and know who is in or country, who is entitled to work, to services, to the something for something society which we value. As people renew their passports, they will receive their new identity card. The cost of biometrics and the card will be added to the total of passports."

David BlunkettLabour Party Conference October 2004

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The Future

• Chip and Finger ?• Facial recognition in cars ?

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Questions