ENTERPRISE BIOMETRIC
SOLUTIONS
SSO, ACCESS CONTROL AND TIME & ATTENDANCE
BAYOMETRIC
MARCH 12, 2017
Written & Compiled By
Danny Thakkar
CEO & Co-Founder
“ The global biometrics market is expected to reach nearly 2.5 billion users and 4.8 billion biometric devices by 2020.
” ACUITY MARKET INTELLIGENCE The Definitive Source for Biometrics Market Intelligence
BIOMETRICS IN EDUCATION
Bayometric
1743 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA, 95126
t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
INTRODUCTION
Biometric technology is a good fit for every
enterprise due to these common factors. Most
organizations have IT infrastructure that require
secured logon, physical facilities where
restricted access control need to be provided
and employees who clock-in and clock-out at
work. All these processes become faster and
more secure by implementing biometric
technology in an enterprise environment.
Image Source: Smart Fone Arena
Many times system users may not be in a
controlled environment such as in a cloud
computing or bring your own device (BYOD)
scenario. In such scenarios stolen passwords
can be very dangerous but biometrics is able to
mitigate that risk. Biometrics is also able to
eliminate physical risks that involve using a
stolen or shared building access card and buddy
punching time clocks.
The increasing number of data hacks calls for
stronger authentication techniques that can
provide user convenience at the same time.
More enterprises are choosing to implement
biometric technology to combat the
continuously evolving security threats and
comply with the strict industry and government
security regulations.
Image Source: Payments Cards & Mobile
Fingerprint biometrics provides strong
authentication, user convenience and high
reliability as the authentication factor is
something unique to the users i.e. their
fingerprints.
THE RISE OF BIOMETRICS FOR ENTERPRISE
SECURITY APPLICATIONS
Image Source: Clare Nelson, CISSP
A number of recent research reports indicate a
sharp growth in the implementation of
biometric technology for enterprise security
applications. The major factor for this growth is
BIOMETRICS IN EDUCATION
Bayometric
1743 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA, 95126
t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
the increasing familiarity of mobile users with
tools such as fingerprint identification for
accessing their mobile devices. Fingerprint
technology is used in majority of the apps and
a recent report by Juniper Research forecasts
that for each year 770 million biometric
authentication applications will be downloaded
by 2019. The increasing use of fingerprint
scanners with smartphones is driving the
adoption of fingerprint technology in a
multitude of applications and industries.
In another report by Acuity Market Intelligence,
the global biometrics market is expected to
reach nearly 2.5 billion users and 4.8 billion
biometric devices by 2020. In the next three
years, biometrics is set to become a slated
feature on most smartphones as well as other
mobile devices. This exponential growth has
been propagated by the increasing demand for
smartphones, tablets and other wearable
mobile devices that integrate fingerprint
technology.
The increasing consumer acceptance of
biometric tools is driving the deployment of
biometric technology in organizations and the
enterprise sector will occupy a major chunk of
the global biometrics market by late 2017.
Biometrics is the most effective way to validate
the true identity of individuals and for tightly
binding the individual to their action or event.
This capability is of great importance in the
enterprise segment since it encourages
employees to act ethically and creates
accountability.
WHAT ARE THE KEY APPLICATIONS OF
BIOMETRICS IN THE ENTERPRISE SECTOR?
Here are some of the key enterprises
applications to which fingerprint biometrics can
be applied.
Physical Access
The primary reason for implementing an access
control system is allowing authorised people
access to specific areas. Authorised access can
be guaranteed only by using a fingerprint
authentication system. Systems that are card or
PIN based only require that the individual
should be in possession of the card or should
know the PIN number to gain entry to the
specific area. These systems have no way of
knowing if the card or PIN is stolen. It also has
no way of determining if the authorised
individual is actually the one using the card or
PIN.
Fingerprint technology enables enterprises to
control access to the main building and certain
restricted areas within the facility easily and
practically. The employees need to initially
register their fingerprints which are then used
to identify them through a fingerprint access
control terminal.
Logical Access
Employees in enterprises have PC environments
that are defined for their profiles.
Conventionally, passwords were used by
employees to access their PC profiles and
corporate networks. But passwords are a very
weak authentication mechanism as is evident
from the increasing number of security
BIOMETRICS IN EDUCATION
Bayometric
1743 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA, 95126
t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
breaches and data hacks. Passwords are highly
vulnerable to being stolen or hacked. This calls
for a stronger authentication mechanism that
can inherently link the individual to their action.
Fingerprint biometrics is a highly convenient
and reliable technology for authentication. It
can neither be stolen nor forgotten as
fingerprints are inherent to the individual.
Unlike password-based methods, the employee
later cannot repudiate having taken an action
as a concrete audit trail is obtained with
fingerprint systems. In scenarios where only
certain employees are required to have access
to selected sites and databases within the
corporate network, fingerprints ensures only
authorised employees will have access.
Identity Services
Fingerprint biometrics help enterprises to tackle
their identity management challenges by
providing a very accurate and reliable
authentication factor i.e. fingerprints. It helps
organizations to verify the identity of their
employees and clients and validate that they
are indeed eligible to receive services and
benefits. Fingerprints are so unique in nature
that even twins have different sets of
fingerprints. The advantage of fingerprints is
that the employee accessing any secure areas
or network is not just an individual holding the
proper credentials but is in fact the correct
employee who has been granted authorised
access. Security significantly improves in
addition to having a concrete audit trail with
fingerprint systems.
Surveillance and Monitoring
Enterprises lose huge amounts of money almost
to the tune of billions of dollars due to
employee time theft and identity fraud. Buddy
punching is a major cause of employee time
theft where one employee clocks for the other
using his or her card. A fingerprint system
eliminates the need for cards as it verifies the
identity of the person using their unique
fingerprint. The employee has to be physically
present to clock-in at work. Fingerprints cannot
be stolen nor can they be shared among the
employees.
Thus a fingerprint time and attendance systems
allows tracking of employees by knowing if they
are present inside the company premises and
also ensures that employees are arriving and
leaving on time by verifying their attendance
records.
HOW DOES FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION
WORK?
In order for a fingerprint system to work, the
users are first required to be enrolled in the
system and their information recorded in a
database. So the process involves two stages –
administering the process of initial fingerprint
enrollment for employees and then using the
live fingerprint for subsequent physical and
logical accesses. The biometric sample i.e.
fingerprint is captured and processed in each of
the stages. Employees enroll one or more
fingerprints using a scanner. A biometric
algorithm converts the captured fingerprints to
a digital template that is securely stored in a
database and will be used for future fingerprint
matching of employees.
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t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
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When the employees want to log in, they
simple scan their finger. If their live fingerprint
sample matches against the stored fingerprint
template, the employee is authenticated and
granted access. This is known as the
verification process. Implementing fingerprint
biometrics in enterprise systems allows
employees to easily authenticate themselves
and gain access to the building, network,
desktop and applications – all with a simple
fingerprint touch.
The biometric authentication process is
explained with the simple diagram given
below.
Figure 1: Fingerprint authentication process
The fingerprint matching process is not a binary
comparison. When two biometric samples are
compared, the idea is to determine the level of
similarity and it represents the probability that
the samples are from the same person. From
this comparison, a matching score is obtained
which is then compared against a preset
threshold criterion to determine if the score is
high enough to declare a successful fingerprint
match.
WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS DRIVERS FOR
BIOMETRICS IN ENTERPRISES?
The primary factor driving the adoption of
biometrics in the public sector is worldwide
government mandates that call for electronic
identification programs in integrated border
management systems. In the commercial
market though, the main drivers are the
availability of mobile phones equipped with
near-field communication technology. It allows
the mobile phone users sharing of information,
initiation of service, and payment and ticketing
capabilities.
However, these features require an extremely
secure technology for locking the devices as
well as authenticating high-risk and high-value
transactions. Biometrics is the authentication
technology that can provide this high security
solution. Millions of mobile devices embedded
with fingerprint biometrics are manufactured
and made available in the market. Another
major driver of fingerprints biometrics is the
healthcare industry looking to biometrically
protect their healthcare records due to its high
accuracy and reliability. Also, new regulations
that mandate enhanced protection of user
information to combat the rising cases of
identity thefts are also a major driver of
biometrics.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF DEPLOYING
FINGERPRINT BIOMETRICS IN ENTERPRISES?
Fingerprint is the oldest and the most widely
used biometric technology. Unlike traditional
authentication mechanisms, fingerprints are
inherent to the user and hence are much
harder to compromise than passwords.
Fingerprint systems allow administrators to
know in real-time when, how and from where
employees accessed their desktops, the
network or any other application. By
implementing a fingerprint authentication
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Bayometric
1743 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA, 95126
t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
system, enterprise can protect their data and
the concrete audit trails help them to comply
with regulatory demands.
Fingerprint systems have a reduced cost and
complexity compared to traditional
mechanisms. Once enrolled correctly, users
have nothing more to do or remember
anything. There is a huge cost saving as
fingerprints eliminates IT helpdesk calls related
to forgotten and lost passwords. Costs related
to producing access cards and replacing of lost
cards are also eliminated with a fingerprint
recognition system.
Fingerprint data has a very high accuracy and
reliability as this data is unique to every person
and remains stable over a period of time. With
fingerprint, each logon can be accurately linked
to the person and therefore any security breach
can be rapidly traced back to the person
responsible for it.
The advancements in biometric technology and
the availability of low-cost fingerprint solutions
from various vendors make it a cost-effective
security solution for enterprises.
CONCLUSION
Fingerprint biometrics can provide enterprises
with high security solutions to manage both
their physical and logical assets. Fingerprint
systems provide a high degree of accountability
and accuracy. Enterprises can experience
higher return on investments as fingerprint
systems are a cost-effective solution. The
availability of low-cost fingerprint solutions from
a variety of vendors and easy integration
capabilities make fingerprint recognition an
extremely viable technology for enterprises.
Security is dramatically increased with
fingerprint systems as they can provide a
practical and guaranteed verification of an
individual’s identity.
BIOMETRICS IN EDUCATION
Bayometric
1743 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA, 95126
t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
AUTHOR
DANNY THAKKAR CEO & Co-Founder
Danny Thakkar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bayometric,
one of the leading biometric solution providers in the
world. He has been in the Biometric Industry for 10+
years and has extensive experience across public and
private sector verticals. Currently, he is chief evangelist for
Touch N Go.
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REFERENCES 1. Biometric Security Is On the Rise – CSO Online
2. Biometrics for Enterprise Access Control – Identity One Technology Services LLC.
3. Fingerprint Access Control and Identification – KIMALDI
4. The Role of Biometrics in Enterprise Security – DELL
5. How Biometrics Security Works – Webopedia
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