Page 108 - Cyber Defense eMagazine for July 2020

We’ve touched on face-scanning but it is far more sophisticated than you may think. Facial recognition is
rapidly gaining popularity and the algorithms that are used to analyze someone’s facial features are also
becoming increasingly intelligent. For example, some facial recognition applications can differentiate a
live subject from a picture, making it very difficult to spoof the facial recognition and gain unauthorized
access to protected data.

Capital is another driving force behind the development of biometrics. The biometrics market is estimated
to be worth a staggering $49 billion by 2022 and huge investments are being made in the development
of new algorithms and systems to improve biometric accuracy.

Biometric authentication was first introduced to the mass market by smartphones such as the Apple
iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy range. Today, it is possible to use biometrics across a much broader
range of applications. However, biometrics are not limited to devices and software, we can also use them
to access physical spaces like our homes. This versatility makes for a better overall authentication
method than passwords, especially when speed, ease of login, and security are all concerns.

If biometrics are a better authentication method, why are we still using passwords? The answer is that
biometrics are not perfect and they do have significant drawbacks that need to be addressed before we
can fully embrace the passwordless revolution. While the technology is very promising and convenient,
there’s certainly room for improvement before biometrics can claim to enjoy the same popularity that
passwords do.

What Are the Drawbacks of Biometric Authentication?

While biometrics are very secure, they are also immutable.

It is important to remember that biometric data has to be stored somewhere for applications to use it as
an authentication method. The problem is that if these databases were to be hacked, your identity could
become compromised.

If your biometric data is ever compromised in one way or another, you could face serious repercussions.
You can change passwords, you can’t change biometrics.

Since biometrics can’t be changed, it would be impossible to ensure the safety of compromised accounts
once hacked. This is where passwords have the upper hand. If your password is ever lost or stolen, you
can simply log in to your account and change your credentials to make it secure again. This process can
be repeated over and over again.

Biometric authentication also comes with quite a few privacy concerns. Since biometrics inextricably link
a user’s digital and physical identity, there are concerns that biometric data could be collected and abused
by hackers. Since data privacy is a key concern, this could cap how widely biometric authentication is
accepted as more people become aware of the potential downsides.

Cyber Defense eMagazine –July 2020 Edition 108
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