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Biometrics, security or vulnerability?

With the release of the new iPhone, all eyes are on the issue of biometrics and whether they really do offer an improved level of convenient security.

The fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S promises to allow one-touch ID verification so as to make life hard for anyone who might wish to steal your valuable device. Security experts remain undecided as to whether the fingerprint scanning technology is up to the job and I'm pretty sure that even as I type this, hackers will be reading their toolsets and cognitive processes to try and crack the technology.

Personally, I think the convenience of biometrics is obvious but the desirability of it is a whole other matter.

I had considered getting a low-cost fingerprint-based door lock for my new lab, after all, these can be had from China for a song.

However, when you're working with knives, metal and glue, I tend to think that a fingerprint-based access control system could turn around and bite one on the bum.

Imagine if you cut your finger or get glue on it...

Such accidents could significantly change the appearance of the fingerprint associated with that digit and as a result, it would be easy to find yourself locked out of your own workshop!

Even using one of those biometric Flash drives to smuggle sensitive data through customs would be fraught with peril. While it's easy to withhold a decryption password, it's damned hard to stop several big burly men from holding your hand - while another presses the Flash drive against the relevant finger.

Perhaps biometrics are best used as a single factor in a two or three-factor security system but I would most certainly be reluctant to solely rely on them in situations where sensitive data or the provision of secure access was involved.

However, biometrics *are* trendy -- and we must remember that these days, it's style and "sizzle" that sells. Actual ergonomics and effectiveness often come a distant second when people are in the process of deciding what to buy.

Of course with the increased emphasis on tying your bank account to your mobile devices so those devices can use near-field communications (NFC) to perform payments with the wave of a hand, I suspect biometrics will continue to be pushed as a great way to secure your secrets and your money.

All the more reason for those hackers to put their thinking caps eh?

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