BIOMETRICS 

Biometrics is the science of verifying or recognising the identity of a living person on the basis of a physiological characteristic, such as a fingerprint or an iris pattern, or a behavioural aspect, like handwriting.

It is one of the most effective ways of securing a system or registering the presence of an authorised person as a biometric sample cannot, unlike a password, a swipe card or other identification token, be borrowed, stolen or forgotten.

Until recently, biometrics was the sole preserve of the large screen and, were it not for significant technological advances over the last few years, science fiction would still be about as close as most would get to seeing biometrics. Today, however, biometric technology has made the leap from science fiction to reality and versatile fingerprint based payment solutions offered by Plankomat, are well-suited for a broad range of environments.

The basic mechanics of a biometric system require that all users are enrolled before the system can be used. The process of enrolment requires that each user gives a sample of their biometric attribute from which a template is made. This template will be stored in a database and each time the user attempts to log on the database will be searched to find a match.

Biometric systems work in one of two ways - verification or identification.

A verification-based biometric system checks whether a person is who they claim to be. The user will typically use a swipe card or key in a PIN which takes the computer directly to the individual's biometric record in the database. Once the record has been identified, the user provides their biometric sample which is compared to the stored record.

An identification-based system will check who a person is. Also known as pure biometrics, identification applications confirm whether the individual is authorised by comparing their scan to all the records held within the system. It is favoured by many organisations as it dispenses with the need for PIN numbers or swipe cards which can be forgotten or lost.

Because no two samples of the same biometric characteristic are exactly similar (the conditions under which samples are taken are invariably different), an algorithm is used to which compares the similarity of encrypted records. Where a sample's similarity exceeds a pre-determined acceptability threshold it is accepted.

Of the different types of physiological biometrics, fingerprint scanning is the most popular. According to the International Biometric Group, it accounts for over a third of all biometric revenues. In 2002 over $144m was spent on biometric fingerprint technologies. By 2007 this figure is expected to grow to $1,230m.

Fingerprints have been used as a means of identifying people for over 1,000 years, although it is was only during the late 19th century that many of the techniques used in modern fingerprint identification were developed.

While the FBI is widely credited with creating the first automated fingerprint identification systems in the 1950s, it is only in the last few years that technology has really enabled the collection and analysis of fingerprint records as a form of identification by small to medium sized businesses.

Each individual has a unique fingerprint pattern - even identical twins will have different patterns. These patterns are made up of a set of ridge lines which often flow parallel and are often arranged into structures called whorls, loops and deltas.

At a microscopic level fingerprints possess a series of micro-singularities, called minutiae. These play a critical role in the identification and matching of fingerprints and it is by analysing these through a complex algorithm that Plankomat is able to make fingerprint comparisons and reliable identification at the Point of Sale.

To date, biometric technology provides the closest thing to a fool proof solution.