Biometric Access Control - Your Finger is the Key to Crime Prevention

Biometric Identification has been around for many years. In the beginning, it was extremely expensive and cost prohibitive and would only be found in the highest security applications. Since 9/11, biometric readers have become increasingly popular and subsequently more cost effective.

Current Biometric Readers include Hand Geometry, Fingerprint, Iris Scan, Passive Facial Recognition, Active Infrared Facial Recognition, Voice Pattern Recognition and blood vessel authentication.

Biometric readers can be stand alone, networked or part of a large P.C. based solution, but no matter which technology is being utilized, each biometric reader will require that a baseline template be provided for comparison purposes. This means a couple of things.

* Each and every person must enroll in the system to create a baseline template
* Every template needs to be stored for comparison either in the computer software or at the reader

The first biometric readers were standalone controllers that stored all of the templates at the reader itself. When a person presented their "credential", whether it was a finger, hand or iris, it needed to be compared to the "template" as stored in the reader. In the case of multiple users, this became a ?one to many? comparison and the reader had to search through its library of templates until it found one that matched. In larger systems with multiple users, this could take several seconds before a match was confirmed.

To speed up the process, manufacturers started storing the biometric templates on central computers that could sort through the templates faster and provide a quicker match.

Eventually, someone came up with the brilliant idea that a ?one to one? comparison would be much quicker than a ?one to many? comparison and require less processing time. Keypads were added to the readers and users were issued Personal Identification Numbers (PIN?s) that essentially called up their template for an immediate ?one to one? comparison.

This simple innovation made biometric readers capable of much faster throughput times and therefore more widely accepted. No longer were there lines at the reader waiting to get in.

Off course, we live in America, and people are very concerned with their personal privacy. An employer storing your biometric information is dangerous, right...Not to mention that storing individual biometric templates on a computer takes up a lot of room on a server.

Security Equipment Manufacturers have solved this dilemma with the advent of smart card technology. Highly popular in Europe and Asia, smart cards are making a strong impact in America. Manufacturers have begun building proximity non-contact type cards that transfer bi-directional data utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Smart cards are in essence read/writable data chips that are used to store and transfer information. Some of them are capable of holding up to 16-kilobits of data that can only be accessed by readers through the use of a 64-bit encrypted "key". This recent innovation provides highly secure credentials for access control systems without the need to store and transfer biometric templates for each person enrolled into the system.

You now enroll and carry your identification templates around with you on your own RFID Proximity Smart Card. The readers download the template from your card and compare it to your fingerprint, Iris, or whatever credential you are using for verification.

If they match, and you have access to the door, it unlocks. You see, your finger really can be the key?.

Roy Stephenson is a Security Consultant with over 21 Years Experience Designing and Installing High End Integrated Security Systems. He is currently the VP of Marketing at http://www.Security-Kits.Com