Organization

This page has three parts

• a simple outline on the topic of biometrics
• a simple example using some biometrics
• a view of the metrics collected after and during the examination process.

Biometrics

A biometric is simply some measurement about a person. The measurements are then used by a control to produce a truth value.

Biometric controls are of two main types, and make use of something you possess or do. These controls use various measurements that are not necessarily precise. There is a great activity today to refine the accuracy of the measurements, and to broaden the set of personal attributes that can be measured.

• Examples of possessions:
  • your name (aliases, soundex)
  • your password (complexity, soundex)
  • your passcard (data on card)
  • group membership
  • body posture
  • DNA pattern
  • skin pigmentation
  • facial pattern
  • fingerprint
  • palm print
  • retina pattern
  • voice
  • signature
• Examples of things you do (behaviors)
  • key press times
  • key press pressure
  • key release times
  • key-to-key movement times
  • mouse press times
  • mouse press pressure
  • mouse release times
  • mouse settling times
  • mouse departure times
  • reaction times
  • learning times
  • activity endurance

Some observations about the varoius biometrics that are used today:

• possessions can be replicated, easily in many cases.
• behaviors can be learned over time for specific situations.
• behavior metrics are not normally distributed, traditional parametric statistics cannot be applied.
• security systems have a cost associated with them that must be compared with the cost of an intrusion.

Biometric Use