Biometrics is a technology that uses unique, measurable human characteristics such as fingerprints, iris and voice to positively identify an individual. Fingerprint biometrics is a dynamic technology being adopted by business, government and consumers at a rapidly growing pace, The market for this technology is constantly expanding.
Biometrics can be used in any application that requires positive identification of a specific individual. Biometric security systems range from limiting access to computers and preventing unauthorized use of vehicles to nuclear power plants and secure military facilities that use biometrics to control access to critical areas.
Historically, user names and passwords are the most common forms of authenticating computer users. They are also the worst headache for IT staff and the biggest network security vulnerability is existence, users routinely share their passwords with one another. Passwords are jotted down on sticky notes and left on the monitor or under the keyboard. If not, just look in the rolodex under “P” for password.
The use of fingerprint scanning peripheral devices that control encryption and decryption, such as fingerprint scanning mouses and USB flash drives eliminates that. You can’t forget your fingerprint and there’s no need to right anything down where anyone can get to it. The highest tech equipment in this area offers 256 bit encryption. That is strong. It would take 100 high end computers doing about a million computations a second approximately 252,000 years to resolve 256 bit encryption. The result: If you’ve stored your files in the proper location and locked them down using a fingerprint scanning mouse, no online or hands-on intruder can get your data. If you lose a fingerprint USB flash drive the data on that drive remains secure.
An interesting development in the biometrics industry is the application for vehicles. Car, truck, boat, heavy equipment, ATVs and some motorcycle owners are enjoying the peace of mind knowing their vehicles are safe even if they leave the keys in them. They are also enjoying significant insurance discounts because of this new application of biometric technology.
While the fingerprint starters where originally designed simply to offer the ultimate in security for any vehicle, businesses that operate fleets or rent/lease high end vehicles soon learned that the device was very useful to control who was able to operate a specific vehicle. The businesses that caught on range from the lawn care business owner who only wants a certain member of the crew to drive to RV rentals where they began entering the authorized and insured driver’s fingerprint.
Biometric security, at least in theory, has been around for more than a decade. But the use of biometrics for personal applications and user authentication was impractical because the devices were large, cost prohibitive, inconvenient and intrusive. Today, the technology has advanced greatly and made biometrics not only practical, but affordable as well. In many cases, the biometric security solution is the most cost effective and operationally effect means of protecting data and assets. To learn more about the world of biometrics and fingerprint scanning technology visit [http://www.omegabiosecurity.com].