Biometric Authentication—A Defence Against Cybersecurity Threat

Passwords and pin codes have been around for years, even before the advent of the internet. In ancient times, people used passwords during wars to differentiate friends from enemies. In 1960, the password entered the computer science domain to protect the files and folders and keep them private.

Back to those days, all the files were stored on a sharing platform and that’s how the concept of passwords was introduced, to keep the data protected, and only the authorised user can access that.

With the advent of the internet, passwords gained more popularity and became an effective means to secure user accounts; in fact, they still are. But as the technology is advancing, cybersecurity is becoming quite a challenge for businesses and organisations since the data leaks and hacking attempts are on the peak. However, we are still using passwords as a means of security to protect our information and data.

While passwords are used protection from unauthorised, but with the data breaches and digital frauds on the rise, businesses are in dire need of advanced defense weapons, i.e. Biometric Authentication.

Entering the World of Biometrics

After passwords and Two-Factor authentication, biometrics is the next big thing in the world of data protection and security. For the last few years, biometrics are making a great impact in terms of security and customer experience. They are no more limited to voting systems now. The tech giants like Samsung, Apple, and Google have introduced new functionalities of this technology.

At first, the fingerprints were introduced and users could unlock their phones and enter someplace by scanning their fingerprints. In fact, many organisations are readily using Biometric Verification to grant access to systems and even the purchases are authorised through fingerprints.

But now it is no more just about fingerprints, biometric technology has gone to another level. Through voice recognition, retina scanning and facial recognition, biometrics are laying strong foundations in the technology world.

Biometrics Transforming the Authentication Checks

Biometrics are the unique identifiable feature of a person that can neither be stolen nor be exploited. Based on this concept, biometric technology is gradually taking over the authentication domain. The traditional authentication checks using username and password are being replaced by biometric authentication.

The driving factor is the rising cybersecurity threat. Through phishing attacks and social engineering tactics, accessing someone’s credentials is no more difficult task.

Moreover, with automated brute force attacks, the passwords are quite easy to break and hack. Anyone with the user credentials can easily access the user accounts and carry out whatever activities they want.

That’s why biometrics are considered secure and safest authentication. Biometrics is something that you are, whereas a password is something you know. The hackers can know something which you have but not something you are.

The advanced biometric technology, facial recognition is the best authentication check to curb different types of identity fraud in real-time. Based on the principles of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, face verification can identify and verify authorised users while detecting different spoofing attacks. That’s what makes biometrics an effective defense mechanism against cyberthreats and cybercriminals.

Biometrics—A Parameter for Improved Customer Experience

If, on the one hand, biometrics proves to be a strong weapon against cyber-attacks, then on the other hand it is playing a major role in enhancing the user experience. It is facilitating the users by eliminating the need for remembering complex passwords or changing them every now and then. Moreover, the users don’t have to go through the effort of drawing patterns or setting unique passwords for multiple accounts. One can easily access the account using simple fingerprint scanning or facial recognition.

Biometrics are faster and more secure than any other authentication methods. Also, it serves as an example to the users regarding the positive use of technology. Eventually, it is eliminating the fear of people regarding technology adoption and facilitating them in improving their experience significantly. According to the report of Kaleido Insight, 89 percent of the consumers are already familiar with biometrics in one or another form. And 55 percent of them are using fingerprints scanning on a regular basis.

The inclusion of fingerprint biometrics comes from the extensive adoption of the mobile industry. Almost all the smartphones released in the last few years come with fingerprint scanner features. With just one tap, the users can access their devices and accounts. Moreover, the biometrics are readily witnessed to authenticate the payments. An example of such a use case is Amazon’s “Smile to Pay” feature, which requires customers to smile in front of the camera to pay.

To say that biometric authentication is an ideal solution to fight cyberthreat won’t be an understatement. Moreover, it is responsible for the secure growth of the business by balancing the security and enhanced user experience.