| Working with security technologies gives you a great appreciation for how difficult
it is to effectively secure anything. As typical security measures became more transparent
to me, I've become disheartened by the thin veneer of security that is often employed
simply to make people feel safe. This applies to everything, banks, airports, computers,
door locks, cash machines, the army, whatever. As more and more transactions of all
types are conducted online, solving security problems has become even more crucial.
One particularly elusive solution is key management, having average people keep track
of their keys. This is exactly like keeping track of your car keys, but with greater
implications. All the same concerns exist, losing your keys, copying your keys (legitimately, or not)
breaking your keys, loaning them out, etc. To be honest about the state of technology,
nobody who knows what they're talking about has a good, practical solution.
Sadly, a lot of folks are looking to biometric technologies as the panacea to a wide range
of security problems. This is bound to create more security
problems than it solves, regardless of the technology in use (fingerprinting, retina, iris,
face scans, or anything else). In the future, I'll post more detailed criticisms here explaining why.
I can envision a single usage pattern in which biometrics would be acceptable, and this
pivots on putting profile data in full posession and control of their subjects. For instance,
If I had a smart card with a fingerprint reader built in and my profile was created & stored
on the card. I've been watching the market for years and never seen any such product
released. Keep checking back here and I'll let you know when one exists. Until then, I
believe everyone should flatly refuse the use of biometric technologies in any shape or form.
Update 2006-10-1: Privaris
claims to have done things the right way. I haven't looked at their product yet, but they explicity
state in product literature that the fingerprint profile is loaded onto the FOB and stays there. |