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Digital Culture: The Changing Dynamics
biometric interfaces cluster around endpoint security: password management and
convenience in financial transactions.
Password management: According to Will Sturgeon, “a growing number of large
end-user organizations are making the switch to biometrics-based solutions to
overcome the perennial problems users continue to have with passwords”. Mitsubishi
Securities uses biometrics on their trading floor. “People across the organization have
about 12 passwords to remember so a single sign-on biometric keyboard has proven
very popular”, according to Graham Yellowley, IT director. A survey among 1 700
enterprise end users in the US found that more than a 25% of respondents manage
more than 13 passwords at work, and 88% are frustrated with password management.
This results in employees writing down passwords “or saving them locally on a
spreadsheet or document”. 22
Financial comfort: Pay By Touch enables shoppers to pay through fingerprint
verification, no cash, no swiping, and claims: “This is one of the rare times where you
can deliver identity theft prevention for the shopper, better security in terms of fraud
for the retailer and increased convenience.” 23 In November 2006, a Harris Interactive
Survey announced that, in a survey of 2006, 72% stated that fingerprint-scanning
ATMs would give them “a positive or very positive feeling toward their bank”. 24
Over 30 000 biometric fingerprinting accessible ATMs are planned in Japan for 2007.
For these banks the profit works two ways: they counter the rising cost of card
misuse, which is estimated at 6%, and they offer their customers convenience and
security. The banks have reported “low false rejection rates, which may reflect the
market’s admission that fingerprint technology has improved since banks last
considered this application nearly ten years ago”.
On 28 June 2009, all EU members are required to store fingerprints of their citizens
(and children up to 12 years), with face recognition as the primary biometric identifier
on the second generation of EU passports, the ePass. The EU IST project
SecurePhone (research and commercial application based) employs face and
fingerprints to enable the user to digitally sign audio, text or image files, providing
proof of their origin and authenticity:
22 Biometrics curing password headaches. And boy do we hate PA55w0RD5... by Will
Sturgeon. Published: Wednesday 28 September 2005 Story URL:
http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39152802,00.htm
23 “Pay By Touch’s patented biometric services enable shoppers to quickly access personal
accounts using a finger scan to identify themselves, make purchases and earn rewards. The
use of pay-by-touch fingerprint systems coincides with the use of other biometrics in
financial transactions.” NSIDE FINANCIAL SERVICES Investors feel good about Pay By
Touch, Becky Yerak, published 29 December 2006, byerak@tribune.com
24 http://www.storefrontbacktalk.com/securityfraud/good-news-for-fingerprint-fans-maybe/
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