Biometrics, Biometric Verification Methods and BioAffix

People typically used body characteristics such as the face, gait, or voice to recognize each other throughout human history. Nowadays, passwords and ID cards are generally used in traditional recognition systems. However, their verification features are restricted for access to secured systems and they are not reliable.

The need for security becomes a major issue in the IT sector with the advancement of Information Technology (IT). Identification or validation of a person with a particular technique can be counted as a way to improve security. In this regard, biometric systems are utilized to identify and verify personal characteristics using biological and behavioral kinds. The term biometric comes from the Greek words bios (life) and metrikos (measure). Biometrics has gained a lot of interest among researchers because of its exponentially growing applications in several areas and it is reliable as far as security is concerned. Besides, Unlike traditional recognition systems, it is impossible to borrow, stole, or forgot biometrics.

Biometric data of a person is collected by a biometric system and compared with a template to specify the person’s identity. The utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in biometric verification systems might be advantageous but also have some challenges such as continuous learning, decision-making, and security issues. Biometrics is a process through which biometric identifiers, unique to an individual, are captured by a system to confirm identity. A biometric identifier is a unique and measurable feature used to mark and describe an individual. Biometric Identifiers, also known as modalities, are categorized as physiological and behavioral. Physiological characteristics include fingerprints, face, hand, odor, irises, palm prints, and DNA. Whereas behavioral characteristics are related to how individuals act and include gait analysis, voice recognition, keystroke dynamics, mouse use characteristics, signature analysis, and cognitive biometrics.

What biological measurements qualify to be biometric? Any human physiological and/or behavioral characteristic can be used as a biometric characteristic as long as it meets the following requirements:

1. Universality: each person should have the characteristic.
2. Distinctiveness: any two persons should be sufficiently different in terms of their characteristics.
3. Permanence: the characteristic should be sufficiently invariant (with respect to the matching criterion) over a period of time.
4. Collectability: the characteristic can be measured quantitatively.However, in a biometric system, several other issues should be considered, including.
5. Performance: refers to the achievable recognition accuracy and speed, the resources required to achieve the desired recognition accuracy and speed, as well as the operational and environmental factors that affect the accuracy and speed.
6. Acceptability: indicates the extent to which people are willing to accept the use of a particular biometric identifier (characteristic) in their daily lives.
7. Circumvention: reflects how easily the system can be fooled using fraudulent methods.A practical biometric system should meet the specified recognition accuracy, speed, and resource requirements, be harmless to the users, be accepted by the intended population, and be sufficiently robust to various fraudulent methods and attacks on the system. A biometric system may operate either in verification mode or identification mode depending on the application.

In the verification mode, the system validates a person’s identity by comparing the captured biometric data with her own biometric template(s) stored in the system database. In such a system, a person who desires to be recognized claims an identity, usually via a personal identification number (PIN), a user name, or a smart card, and the system conducts a one-to-one comparison to determine whether the claim is true or not. Identity verification is typically used for positive recognition, where the aim is to prevent multiple people from using the same identity.

In the identification mode, the system recognizes an individual by searching the templates of all the users in the database for a match. Therefore, the system conducts a one-to-many comparison to establish an individual’s identity without the subject having to claim an identity. Identification is a critical component in negative recognition applications where the system establishes whether the person (implicitly or explicitly) denies his/her identity. The purpose of negative recognition is to prevent a single person from using multiple identities. Identification may also be used in positive recognition for convenience (the user is not required to claim an identity). While traditional methods of personal recognition such as passwords, PINs, keys, and tokens may work for positive recognition, negative recognition can only be established through biometrics.

The commonly used person physical biometric measurements are fingerprints, irises, palm prints, faces, speech, retinas, and palm print-based systems for identification.

The primary purpose of fingerprint recognition or identification systems is to provide trustworthy verification of users to control access to resources such as computers as well as to critical facilities such as offices and hospitals. These systems also provide useful data for generating summary periodic reports on usage statistics, including the number of participants inside a facility, frequency of entrances and exits, duration of stay, and other intelligence required for monitoring, surveillance, and security administration.

Despite their many benefits, fingerprint scanners are potential sources of disease transmission due to contamination from multiple touches by various users in a wide range of questionable hygienic conditions; as a result, these scanners pose potential transmission risks. Serial use of finger scanners in a given setting may play a more significant role in transmission, as latent prints left on the scanner surface by the deposition of finger moisture, sweat, or oils can soil the surface.

Unhygienic thumbs can potentially leave surviving bacteria, fungi, and viruses on the surface of the scanner after use, thereby increasing the possibility of transmitting germs that cause illnesses, including COVID-19, which is predominantly spread via droplets and contaminated hands or surfaces. The use of fingerprints may also have other challenges. For example, the fingerprints of elderly people or people such as workers are difficult to recognize. Hard work and physical activity in some occupations cause people to lose their fingerprints, and identifying them with these methods is challenging. In some cases, people intentionally destroy their fingerprints temporarily or permanently with acid or burns to make them difficult to identify in criminal activities.

Biometric methods can also be based on a person’s face, but the accuracy of these face recognition methods depends on the state, gesture, and brightness of the image. In biometric methods based on face image processing, many factors play a role. We can mention the feeling inside the image, the person’s age, the quality of ambient light, and the imaging angle. Another appropriate method for identifying people is to use iris information. The iris authentication method has high accuracy, but unfortunately, it faces challenges. Iris biometric detection requires specific cameras, hardware, and substrates necessary for this method and has made its use costly.

Hand-based biometrics is considered in many research due to its advantages of low cost, low computational complexity, low template size, and more user-friendly.

Hand shape and geometry are easily integrated with different modalities such as latent palm-print, fingerprint, finger geometry, palm vein, and Finger-Knuckle-Print to develop multimodal biometric systems for various applications of different specifications.

Hand geometry and hand shape have been developed and investigated in the literature. Recently, researchers have reported various new multi-model biometric systems based on hand geometry, hand shape, and their combinations with other biometrics in the literature. Hand shape and hand geometry are widely adopted because these can be easily captured with any image-capturing device.

Palm line information is one of the most widely used methods of identifying individuals. Studies show that the groove pattern and even the hand arteries can be unique and identify individuals with great accuracy. This method can use tissue features such as wrinkles, bumps, and human palm folds for identification. Different palm printing features, such as geometric features, lines, and wrinkles in other people, have different and unique patterns. These methods can be used in biometrics and individual identification. Palm prints have various features in terms of vascular location and fingerprints and a set of features that can be used for identification. To analyze hand images, blood vessels can be used, and fingerprints or hand grooves can be used in printing.

Palm scratch information can be affected and unusable in some hard workers, such as workers and miners. Information on the palm’s grooves can be subject to change or tissue damage, but the pattern of the arteries in the hand has a very stable pattern. The veins in the hand consist of two parts, the back, and the palm. Using patterns of arteries and veins on the hand’s back is a sure method of identification and cannot be forged. The palm veins are more difficult to distinguish from the back of the hand because the palm has denser tissues than the back of the hand. An appropriate method for detecting hand veins is to use infrared cameras. With these cameras, one can then make contact with a certain surface and read the pattern of the hand’s veins. The advantage of this identification method is that, unlike manual printing methods, the person does not need to contact the surfaces.

So What is BioAffix?

BioAffix is a continuum of biometric access control systems performing biometric verification with many different methods and was developed by ONES Technology. Biometric verification enables users to logon in a fast and easy way without the need for the users to remember their passwords. With the decision taken in Türkiye, the Biometric Identity Verification Access Control Systems (BIVACS) products were undergone engineering and quality processes and local and cloud-based access control system devices were produced. Thus, new security solutions were created.

BioAffix is a product family of biometric and security solutions that provides a range of contactless card readers, central management applications, and servers that enable organizations to manage their security systems effectively. Here are some additional details about the BioAffix products:

1. BioAffix Management: This is a central management application that allows organizations to manage all BioAffix products in their system. It provides a user-friendly interface for managing access control, time and attendance, and other security-related tasks. The software can be customized to meet the specific needs of an organization
2. BioAffix Gate Smart: This is a contactless card reader that can perform transition processes through the information existing in its internal memory independent from BioAffix. It provides high-level security measures and convenience in administrative work. The device can be used for access control, time and attendance, and other security-related tasks
3. BioAffix One Server: This server enables the transfer of information about registration, verification, or update processes made by the BioAffix product family. It provides high-level security measures against all known attacks and supports communication of devices with the database with a double layer SSL tunnel and Mul-Sec communication protocol. The server also has advanced database management features equipped with HSM (Hardware Security Module) security technology
4. BioAffix Secure I/O Slim: This is a secure communication module developed especially for the cabinet security required by data centers. It provides input/output feature to BioAffix authentication product family hardware
5. BioAffix Secure I/O V3: This is a secure communication module that provides input/output feature to BioAffix authentication product family hardware and can control devices that can receive input/output signals

In summary, BioAffix is a product family that provides biometric and security solutions for organizations to manage their security systems effectively. It includes contactless card readers, central management applications, servers, and secure communication modules that enable high-level security measures and convenience in administrative work. The products can be customized to meet the specific needs of an organization.

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