Security implications in Biometric Assignment PDF

SECURITY IMPLICATIONS IN BIOMETRIC
A. Author
ITC595 MIT, School of Computing & Mathematics, Charles Sturt University
[e-mail]
ABSTRACT – Biometric is based on the emerging
technology which is applicable as the new way for the
authentication. The biometric uses the figure prints or the
iris scan of the authorized users for the authentication. This
technique provides a tight authentication technique for the
identification of the users. However, there are some of the
drawbacks of using biometric for authentication. This study
will discuss the working principle of biometric along with
its advantages and disadvantages. This paper will discuss
the way of security issues are the main advantages of using
this technique. However, this security factor may become
the disadvantage of biometric (Toch et al.,2018). There are
also privacy implications those apply to the use of
biometrics, which is also discussed in this paper. The
primary objective of this paper is to find the usefulness of
biometrics in the context of privacy and security field. To
do those, this paper initially discusses the background the
basic knowledge related to biometric. The advantages and
disadvantages of using biometric are also in the focus of the
discussion along with the particular challenges of using
biometric (Carpenter et al.,2016). It has been seen that the
difficulties generally happens in maintaining the security
and privacy. The security issues are closely related to the
privacy factors; as the violation of the security issues, many
cause the disclosure of the private data of the users.
Challenges and the recommendations for handling those
challenges are discussed. The recommendations are made
so that the biometric system can be modified and
improvised both from the privacy and security aspects.
Keywords— Biometric authentication, security, 3W,false
negative, security breaches
INTRODUCTION
Biometric is an emerging technology, which is used for the
authentication and security purpose. However, there are certain
advantages and disadvantages of using biometric as the method
for authentication. To discuss the use of biometrics for the
authentication, the basic knowledge along with the working
principle of this technology is needed to be evaluated.
Biometric can be used in different ways for the authentication
purpose. The method of using the biometric depends on the
requirements of the organisation or the authentication authority
[6]. However, there are certain security breaches and the
technical issues present in the use of biometric authentication
which can raise the difficulties in using this technology. Apart
from that, the security flaws in the system help the
unauthorised entity to access the authorised data and
information. This article has discussed the essential working
condition of the biometric security system, which will be useful
to identify the authorized users. The detailed discussion about
the advantages and disadvantages helps to determine the
security flaws present in the system and the opportunities for
the further modification and improvisation of the system.
Different usage of biometrics discusses the security flaws,
regarding the user authentication. The identification of the
disadvantages is based on the chances of violating security
regulations. Primary recommendations are made by this article
for the improvisation of the biometric system. Disadvantages of
using biometric points to the need for a system that can
eliminate or mitigate the security flaws. This article has
proposed a system based on the derived recommendations
which will possibly reduce the security flaws of biometric.
However, the success of the proposed system is based on the
particular conditions and other non-technical factors such as
awareness among the people and way of using the system by
the user. This paper concludes that biometric can be used as a
convenient option for authentication after the elimination of its
drawbacks.
A. Research Problem
The primary purpose of this article is to research on the
implications of the security regarding the use of biometrics.
The main advantage of the accurate biometric authentication is
that it can grant access to the authorized users. This research
raises particular research questions and the research areas. The
problems which have been highlighted regarding the objective
of this paper are-
• The security issues in the biometric process.
• The difference between the types of security issues.
• The impact of different security issues on the users and
the whole system.
• The security flaws in the biometric system which can be
exploited by the unauthorised authority.
• Possible methods to eliminate the security flaws in the
system.
• Recommendations based on the findings of those
methods.
• Proposing a system that will reduce certain security
breaches in the biometric system along with that it will also
mitigate the effect of violation of security.
B. Research Justification
The study on the security implications of the biometric
security is needed as biometric has become a famous way of
authentication. Biometric uses the physical identification of the
human being as the passkey to validate the authorised access. It
may be a steady way of proving authenticity. However, the
uniqueness of the biometric may be misused, and an
unauthorised entity can trick with this uniqueness. Specific
incidents have happened where biometric authentication has
failed to achieve its purpose. To understand the flaws of the
biometric, the understanding of the working system of this
technology needs to be discussed so that identification possible
ways for the violation of the security can be identified. The
advantages of using biometrics indicate the popularity of using
biometric as the way for authentication.
Working Principal of Biometric: Biometric uses the physical
presence of the human to give the authentication for the access.
Different parts such as the iris of the eye or the figure prints are
used as the passkey. Sometimes, face scanning is also used in
the biometric authentication. The scanned details of the iris or
the face or the figure print of the authorised person is recorded

electronically in the biometric system. During the access of
particular thing, the approved person has to use his or her
figure prints or the scanning of iris or face. The system
provides access if the given pattern of authentication by the
user is matched with the recorded authentication pattern in the
order. Otherwise, the access gets denied by the system.
The advantages of biometric are-
• Unique identification: The figure prints or the iris is
different and unique for the individuals. In this case, the
passkey for the individuals will be unique.
• Eliminate the disadvantage of forgetting the password: In
the traditional way of the security system, passwords are
provided to the users. In case, if the user forgets the password,
that authorised user cannot gain the access. In the biometric
authentication system, the passkeys are the fingerprints or the
scanning of the face or iris, which eliminate the disadvantage
of using passwords.
• Eliminate the chances of forge: The authentication
process cannot be easily forged in the biometric system, which
ensures the adequate security of the system.
• Profitable: The implementation of the biometric system is
beneficial as it delivers the excellent return on investment [24].
The installation of the biometric is easy and does not require
many resources. Apart from that, it reduces paperwork and the
cost of resetting the password.
• Scalable: The business growth requires the scalable
solutions. Using biometric is scalable security solutions for the
growing business.
These advantages play an essential role in increasing
popularity of the use of biometrics. However, there are some
disadvantages of biometric which can be regarded as the
security flaws of biometric, as these flaws act as a constraint
for the biometric authentication for reaching its objectives. The
security issues of the biometric system can be categorised into
two types-
• Technical shortcomings
• Non-technical shortcomings
Technical faults:
Security: The significant advantage of biometric is security.
However, the safety is also the principal disadvantage of this
system. The security can be breached with the help of advanced
technology in the biometrics. Duplication of the figure prints
and iris scan can be used to violate the protection of the
authentication system. In this case, the unauthorized person can
somehow collect the figure prints of the authorized person to
get access.
Technical issues: Sometimes biometric system develops
problems technical like generating false negative results. In this
case, the authorised person gives the right passkey for the
access to the system, but the system denies the access [20].
Similarly, the system sometimes gives the false positive results,
giving them access to the unauthorised person. However, the
occurrence of false negative is higher than false positive.
Issues of resetting the passwords: In case, if there is the need
for resetting the password, the problem can arise [21]. In the
biometric authentication system resetting of the password is not
possible as it uses the unique identification of individual
human. In this case, if authorized tea person chooses to reset
the passkeys for the security purpose, the decision cannot be
carried out.
To eliminate these above mentioned disadvantages, the
security implications of the biometric authentication system in
needed to be done.
LITEERATURE REVIEW
The comparison of fingerprint-based biometric
authentication with the traditional authentication process can be
evaluated in the generation of e-payment method[1]. To
propose a model for e-payment based on the biometric
authentication, the comparison with the conventional system of
e-payment has been discussed The invention of the use of
biometrics in the e-payment process will bring the revolution in
the e-commerce sector. However, there are some risks
associated with this system. The paper has covers the possible
dangers those may involve in the proposed method [25]. The
research model is based on the individual’s perspective of
making e-payment. The result of this paper shows the use of
biometrics has significant impacts on individual’s safety and
security. However, this paper has proposed a system for the
biometric authentication in e-payment but does not concern
with the model which will mitigate the security flaws of the
system. The main contribution of this paper in this article is the
process of making the authorization in the e-payment process
using biometric.
To understand the impacts of using biometrics for the
identification purpose, the security implications of using
biometrics in a university has been evaluated. The biometric-
based ID authentication has gained popularity. The introduction
of biometric-based smart cards in the university will enhance
the security in the university. There are certain advantages of
using the biometric-based system rather than using the
conventional authentication system[2]. However, there are
specific implications and constraints of using the biometric-
based system. The primary problem according to the paper is
the absence of rules and regulations of using biometrics [22].
This paper emphasis on the legal issues regarding the use of
biometric along with that it also discusses the proposed way of
implementation of biometric-based smart card authentication
system in the university. Specific problems in the biometric
system can be found from this discussion [23]. However, this
paper does not make any recommendations for overcoming all
the technical and non-technical challenges regarding the use of
biometrics.
The biometric authentication has become high end solutions
for the authentication nowadays[3]. The article shows the use
of biometrics in the smartphones and other gadgets. Different
high end mobile manufacturing companies are implementing
the biometric authentication in the devices. However, the paper
also discusses the security breaches the users face those, but it
does not provide any solution to this problem [13]. This paper
presents the different mechanisms of the implementation of
biometrics process and exploring the proven flaws in the
various devices. There is no mention of the methods for
preventing the security issues in the biometric authentication
system, and the whole discussion has been done from the
perspective of the development of smartphones.
The use of behavioural biometrics is done by the implicit
authentication process in the smartphones [4]. The method of
implicit biometric authentication has been proven more
convenient than the traditional explicit biometric authentication
process. However, there is a lack of established authenticity in
the use of graphic biometric authorization [14]. There are also
problems regarding the generation of false negative issues in
the biometric authentication which has the negative impact on
the users. The paper has discussed the usefulness and
advantages of using the behavioural biometrics in the
smartphones along with that it also enlightens the annoying
problem of the false negative results generated by the
behavioural biometrics. The pair is focused mainly on the
implementation and improvisation of use of biometrics in the
smartphone. However, it does not mention the use of
biometrics in general and the other security issues regarding the
use of biometrics. This paper has given some inputs about the