[EAS]Biometrics

[pjk]

Subject:   Biometrics

(from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology
 October 11, 2002, Volume 1, Number 18)
 <http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/nsdl-reports/met/2002/met-021011.html>
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1. An Overview of Biometrics
http://biometrics.cse.msu.edu/info.html

2. Avanti Knowledge Base
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/avanti/frame3.htm

3. University of Cambridge: Computer Laboratory [.pdf]
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/jgd1000/

4. International Biometric Group: The Biometric Industry - One Year
   After 9/11
http://www.ibgweb.com/9-11.html

5. A Trusted Biometric System [.pdf]
http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2002/HPL-2002-185.html

6. Connecticut Department of Social Services: DSS's Biometric
   ID Project
http://www.dss.state.ct.us/digital.htm

7. IEEE Spectrum Online: Who Goes There?
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/sep02/911e.html

8. Scientific American.com: Who's Who
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00077B81-70EB-1D06-8E49809EC588EEDF

Biometrics technology can take on many forms, but, in general, it is
defined as the automated identification of a person based on
physiological or behavioral characteristics. The topic has gained
considerable attention lately, because it can be a tool for airport
surveillance or national security.

To learn the basics of biometrics, try the overview given on a
Michigan State University Web site (1). Besides summarizing the
characteristics of biometric systems, it explains four different
identification methods and how they can be used together. A
collection of fifteen papers is presented on this site (2). Each one
looks at a particular issue in biometrics and describes it in
detail. These papers can be especially useful for anyone designing
or working with identity verification systems. The home page of a
University of Cambridge professor (3) has many resources for iris
recognition. There are many distinguishing characteristics of the
iris, and the material ranges from a general introduction to
advanced analysis techniques. An article published by the
International Biometric Group (4) considers the effects of the
September 11 terrorist attacks on the biometrics industry. The
potential applications of biometrics technology and the obstacles to
deploying these security measures (such as privacy) are discussed.
Researchers at Hewlett-Packard published this technical report about
user authentication on distributed computing platforms (5). It
describes a trusted biometric system that incorporates smart cards
and biometric readers to validate the user's identity. A project in
Connecticut uses biometric technology to prevent fraud (6). By
scanning the fingers of welfare recipients, no one can attempt to
collect multiple welfare checks using different names. An article in
the September 2002 issue of IEEE Spectrum (7) discusses advancements
in biometrics within the last year. It outlines the benefits of
adding biometric information to state driver's licenses, and
considers what else needs to be done to increase the nation's
security. Lastly, a July 2002 article in Scientific American (8)
explains how biometrics can be used to prevent identity theft. This
is one of the top consumer complaints and has been increasing
dramatically in recent years. An interesting development is a
tamperproof ID, which can not be falsified.