Banking Street Special: Frisking Biometrics on security

MUMBAI, INDIA: This week itself Gartner slipped in a prediction that by 2017, wearable devices would be driving as much as 50 per cent of total app interactions. Think desktop-based app interactions and mobile apps, here and it won't be hard to imagine machines taking a new avatar in our daily chores. In fact as per the ‘Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2013 report, Gartner had underlined the relationship between humans and machines and implications from smart machines, cognitive computing and the Internet of Things etc that we are about to witness. What stood out there was this observation that - the divide between humans and machines is bridging fast.

This could be about a future where augmenting humans with technology becomes a routine rather than a marvel. Gartner analysts also pointed that enterprises of the future will use a combination of these three trends to improve productivity, transform citizen and customer experience, and to seek competitive advantage.

In some hot-from-the-oven news, France's national interbank network, Groupement des Cartes Bancaires CB, has been heard of evaluating the use of biometry in payment transactions and is anticipated approving a strong authentication standard, defined by Natural Security for use in the CB system, before the end of the year.

Alongside, some 25 Nigerian banks have started capturing customer biometric data as part of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) while Groupement des Cartes Bancaires CB, the French bank card association is on its way to equip member banks to issue customers with keyfobs supporting fingerprint payments by the end of this year.

For this CB is working with the Natural Security Alliance, a group set up to commercialize a standard approach to biometrics in payments, and when you notice names like Visa, MasterCard and Discover or French banks Banque Accord, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Crédit Mutuel, merchant Carrefour's banking arm as members of the alliance, you get more curious.

Back in Atlanta headquarters, SunTrust is already claiming to have notched the place as the first U.S. bank to install a robotic safe deposit box vault that allows customers to store and retrieve their valuables at an ATM-like device without need for a bank employee, thanks to a high-tech capability that entails a biometric hand scan.

Does that mean that BFSI industry can indeed embrace biometrics without any apprehensions or concerns as long as the pace of adoption is right? The needle of doubt, understandably, swerves to the security spot yet again and so we try to swipe some questions by someone who breathes security landscape all the time - Govind Rammurthy, MD & CEO at eScan, an Anti-Virus & Content Security solutions provider that has been excited about some futuristic technologies, like MWL Technology, DIRC Technology, NILP Technology, and sophisticated Anti-Virus Heuristic Algorithms under its ambit.

Is the basic assumption around biometrics strong enough - that, every person is unique and in imitable?

It is not just an assumption but a scientifically proven fact based on which biometrics is being actively used for providing an additional layer of security in select locations.

What is your angle when it comes down to a reality-check comparison of biometrics with other authentication methods?

Consider the fact that text-based authentication has taken a severe beating in recent years, with attackers implementing brute force or phishing or simply hacking their way into the servers. However, biometric though costly to implement but do provide a secure mechanism for authentication.

Can current technologies capture behavioral nuances and ensure safety? Why do we see a good biometric footprint in smartphones already but not so much in enterprise-segment yet?

Smartphones and Enterprise segment are worlds apart. Smartphone are based on consumer choice while Enterprises are entirely dependent on the policies and is not just limited to one single employee. Hence, deployment of biometric en-masse across the entire landscape of the enterprise is still not preferred due to the deployment costs. However, whenever there is a demand for high security features for providing access to sensitive locations/areas, biometrics is preferred over other methods of authentication.

Fake biometrics? How much fiction and how much real is it getting?

In comparison to the fake identities generated using the stolen text credentials, incidents of fake biometrics are negligible and sparse.

Can biometrics ever replace plastics in BFSI industry or its likes?

In the next few years, we may observe a surge in hybrid systems wherein biometrics are being used concurrently, however a totally replacement of plastic by biometrics is ruled out.

Are certain segments better than others like: Speech recognition or image recognition or new innovations that are still happening?

Every algorithm has its own pitfalls and advantages; also it caters to specialized markets. Moreover, we are yet to find a more stable solution which will have worldwide acceptance as those for the text and plastic based mechanisms.