Biometric technology has been with us for a number of years now, yet we are still more likely to see such systems playing their part in a Hollywood movie than in the UK's corporate security environment. Could a sea change in end users' attitudes be on the cards?
Facial recognition systems secured access to computers in the US blockbuster movie 'Mission Impossible', while a fingerprint reader is currently helping protect a casino vault in the Brat Pack reworking that is 'Ocean's 11'. However, for the majority of UK businesses biometric technologies still represent 'Tomorrow's World'.

That said, there is now strong evidence to suggest that end users are all set to embrace biometrics. In its comprehensive report entitled 'Access Control 2002', market research concern Key Note forecasts "the increasingly widespread use of biometric solutions for both medium and high risk locations". Meanwhile, the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA) recently doubled its estimates for growth in the sector, predicting that the worldwide market will now be worth a whopping £1.5 billion by 2006.

Frederick De Domenico, a member of the Association of Security Consultants, agrees with the predictions made by Key Note and the IBIA. De Domenico told SMT: "The use of biometrics for building access control is on the increase in both the US and the Far East, and Britain normally follows on from the US."

In anticipation of this upward trend, both Panasonic and Securicor have recently made moves into the biometrics arena. For its part, Securicor Information Systems launched a biometrics division late last year, and has just supplied Visionics' facial recognition software to Essex Police such that they can automate the suspect identification process.

Meantime, Panasonic is set to showcase new iris recognition-based access control systems at this month's IFSEC Exhibition and Conference. According to Simon Wright, head of the company's CCTV division, this will include a "one glance identification system boasting an error rate of less than one in 100,000". Impressive stuff indeed.

Interestingly, Wright feels that the use of PC iris recognition cameras is on the increase mainly because they offer "a very secure way of locking commercially-sensitive data, in particular on laptops which are often subject to theft." Wright added that security system end users are increasingly looking at ways to tighten up access control in response to new and increased threats.

"A good example to look at there would be the recent spate of robberies at Heathrow Airport," said Wright. "Biometric access control systems could have prevented those heists. They're certainly becoming the access systems of choice."

Security managers won over
Given that his company is of course a well-known supplier of biometric security solutions, you might well argue that Simon Wright would say that. Tellingly, though, many of the nation's security managers appear to agree that biometrics technology is – at long last – about to 'come of age' on home shores.

Stuart Davidson, site services and security manager at blue chip concern The Boots Company, wanted to see how biometrics developed – and wait for the system costs to come down – before integrating the technology into Boots' own security systems.

In 2002, the use of biometrics for access control "is now a realistic possibility," declared Davidson.

Davidson is planning to use facial recognition to identify known shoplifters. "If we had the technology in one of our stores and a known offender entered that store, a facial recognition system could identify him and alert our in-store staff and remote monitoring centre operators. They could then dial-in to the store and monitor the suspect 'live' via CCTV."

Davidson is also considering the use of biometrics to control access to IT information stored in Boots' data centres (the company is already using fingerprint recognition to secure access to stock areas and cash offices in some of its Midlands stores).

Many forward-thinking end user companies are now beginning to make extremely good use of fingerprint recognition by way of controlling access to cash offices and stock rooms.

It's not only big corporations that are turning to biometrics to tighten up access control, though. Pixieland Day Nurseries is also benefiting from using fingerprint readers to secure access at one of its five children's nurseries in Devon (see box panel 'Fingerprinting at Pixieland: biometrics in the real world').

Back on the bigger stage Geoff Whitfield – director of r&d worldwide security at pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) – is now seriously considering the use of biometrics for building access control at GSK's dedicated research and development sites. However, he too has concerns over the sole use of biometrics alone. "I'd be hesitant to rely on just biometrics at the moment," said Whitfield. "Not from a security point of view, but purely from a 'read reliability' perspective."

Tim Pidgeon, director of business development at facial recognition systems specialist Visionics (UK), believes that doubts over the technology are beginning to subside. "Biometrics is now a reliable, useable product," said Pidgeon. "Gone are the days when it was associated purely with James Bond films. The discussion among end users now is not so much about whether or not biometrics works, but rather about how such technology can be applied in the business environment. That's a sure sign that the technology is maturing."

Equally significant, claims Pidgeon, is the fact that the price of biometric recognition systems has come down considerably during the last two years. On average, a fingerprint reader for PCs and laptops now costs between £100-£200, a fingerprint door access system around £1,500 and a 2D facial recognition door entry system less than £4,000.

Certainly, Visionics (UK) has the contracts to back up Pidgeon's claim that UK end user demand for biometrics is growing. Birmingham City Council recently followed the London Borough of Newham's lead in integrating Visionics (UK)'s FaceIt facial recognition system with its own public CCTV system to spot and then catch known offenders.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, there also seems to have been an increase in demand for biometric security post September 11. Managers at Dallas Fort Worth Airport – the world's third busiest airport – recently announced that they are now trialling Visionics' FaceIt Argus system.

In the longer term, there are plans to use the system for scanning and checking the faces of everyone who passes through the airport's checkpoints against a Federal Bureau of Investigation database of known criminals.

The data protection obstacle
Visionics lost out on a contract last August after Borders, a major bookstore chain, scrapped its plans to integrate FaceIt with CCTV surveillance at its central London branches. Why? Security officials at Borders expressed concern that, by using biometrics, they would fall foul of Data Protection and Human Rights laws.

Chris Brogan – managing director of Security International and a renowned expert on privacy laws – told SMT that, as long as personal data obtained from biometric systems is properly processed, the technology need not fall foul of the privacy laws. However, Brogan also urges the Information Commissioner to issue guidelines on what's acceptable regarding the use of biometrics.

Walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk: a new generation of biometric technology

Face, hand, iris and fingerprint-based recognition systems dominate the worldwide biometrics market, of course, but a new kid on the block is fast making its presence felt – and heard. Domain Dynamics has just launched a voice recognition solution to address weaknesses in mobile ’phone security. The company’s technology is said to “inextricably link and secure mobile ’phones and their SIM card, ensuring that they respond only to the voice of their rightful owner.” In addition, the network operator can be notified of unauthorised use and the location of the ’phone itself. In the near future, biometrics should also be able to recognise us not just by the way we talk, but by the way we walk. Scientists at the University of Southampton have been developing automatic gait recognition technology since the mid-1990s. They believe that, in a few years’ time, public CCTV schemes will be able to use the technology alongside facial recognition as a key to criminal behaviour. Government departments on both sides of the Atlantic have bought into this idea (as has been amply demonstrated by dual funding of the project). According to Dr John Carter of the University’s Department of Electronics and Computer Science, gait recognition has a number of advantages. “It’s non-contact, you can do it at a distance and, potentially, you’ll be able to identify someone even if you can’t see their face,” said Carter. Dr Carter also told SMT that the gait system developed and tested by the University has achieved a 97-98% recognition rate in the ‘laboratory’. There is no evidence as yet of how recognition rate may degrade in the ‘real world’.

Fingerprinting at Pixieland: biometrics in the real world

Nurseries are more commonly associated with finger painting than fingerprinting, but Pixieland Day Nurseries is bucking the trend by using a dedicated fingerprint reader to protect children at one of its four day nurseries in Devon, writes Lawrence Cohen. Karen Sweet, manager at Pixieland, told Security Management Today: “We wanted to enable parents to let themselves in and out of the nursery without the added danger of strangers being able to do exactly the same.”

Previously, members of staff had to view the entrance via office CCTV monitors before opening the front door for parents. “If there were no staff in the office, people couldn’t get in and out,” recalled Sweet. “We also found that we were having to open the door anything up to 150 times per day.”

Staff, visitors and parents who use the fingerprint reader don’t even have to carry an ID card. They simply place their finger on the reader – which is located at the building’s main entrance – and then type in a special PIN in order to gain access. “Not everyone gets it right first time,” added Sweet, “but it normally takes no more than three attempts.”

Sweet continued: “It can be much harder to identify a fingerprint when there’s water on the surface of a finger, but generally speaking the system has been proven to work well.”

Enrolment for a new user takes two to three minutes. As users’ fingerprints are stored on the reader, they don’t need an ID card to gain access. The TSSI Verid fingerprint recognition system (TSSI’s UK distributor and development specialist is Third Millennium Systems) deployed at Pixieland costs £2,500. Pixieland’s management team is now planning to install the system in two more nurseries.

Source

SMT