INTRODUCTION

Biometrics are automated methods of identifying a person or verifying the

identity of a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic.
Biometric-based authentication is the automatic identity verification, based on
individual physiological or behavioral characteristics, such as fingerprints,
voice, face and iris. Since biometrics is extremely difficult to forge and cannot
be forgotten or stolen, Biometric authentication offers a convenient, accurate,
irreplaceable and high secure alternative for an individual, which makes it has
advantages over traditional cryptography-based authentication schemes. It has
become a hot interdisciplinary topic involving biometric and Cryptography.
Biometric data is personal privacy information, which uniquely and
permanently associated with a person and cannot be replaced like passwords
or keys. Once an adversary compromises the biometric data of a user, the data
is lost forever, which may lead to a huge financial loss. Hence, one major
concern is how a person’s biometric data, once collected, can be protected.

Biometrics, which is formed from the two ancient Greek words bios and
metron which mean life and measure respectively, refers to two very different
fields of study and application. The first, which is the older and is used in
biological studies, is the collection, synthesis, analysis and management of
biology. Biometrics in reference to biological sciences, or biostatistics, has
been studied since the early twentieth century. More recently and
incongruously, the term's meaning has been broadened to include the study of
methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic
physical or behavioral traits.
 OVERVIEW
Biometrics are used to identify the input sample when compared to a
template, used in cases to identify specific people by certain characteristics.

 Possession-based

Using one specific "token" such as a security tag or a card

 Knowledge-based

the use of a code or password.

Standard validation systems often use multiple inputs of samples for sufficient
validation, such as particular characteristics of the sample. This intends to
enhance security as multiple different samples are required such as security
tags and codes and sample dimensions. For some security systems, one
method of identification is not enough. Layered systems combine a biometric
method with a keycard or PIN. Multimodal systems combine multiple
biometric methods, like an iris scanner and a voiceprint system.

Biometrics encompasses both physiological and behavioral characteristics. A

physiological characteristic is a relatively stable physical feature such as finger
print, iris pattern, retina pattern or a Facial feature. A behavioral trait in
identification is a person’s signature, keyboard typing pattern or a speech
pattern. The degree of interpersonal variation is smaller in a physical
characteristic than in a behavioral one.

TYPES OF BIOMETRICS

Fingerprints:

The patterns of friction ridges and valleys on an individual's fingertips are

unique to that individual. For decades, law enforcement has been classifying
and determining identity by matching key points of ridge endings and
bifurcations. Fingerprints are unique for each finger of a person including
identical twins. One of the most commercially available biometric
technologies, fingerprint recognition devices for desktop and laptop access are
now widely available from many different vendors at a low cost.
 Face Recognition: The identification of a person by their facial image can be
done in a number of different ways such as by capturing an image of the face
in the visible spectrum using an inexpensive camera or by using the infrared
patterns of facial heat emission. Using a wide assortment of cameras, the
visible light systems extract features from the captured image(s) that do not
change over time while avoiding superficial features such as facial expressions
or hair.

Speaker Recognition:

Speaker recognition uses the acoustic features of speech that have been found
to differ between individuals. These acoustic patterns reflect both anatomy
and learned behavioral patterns. This incorporation of learned patterns into
the voice templates has earned speaker recognition its classification as a
"behavioral biometric." Speaker recognition systems employ three styles of
spoken input: text-dependent, text-prompted and text independent.

Iris Recognition:

This recognition method uses the iris of the eye which is the colored area that
surrounds the pupil. Iris patterns are thought unique. The iris patterns are
obtained through a video-based image acquisition system. Iris scanning devices
have been used in personal authentication applications for several years.

Hand and Finger Geometry:

To achieve personal authentication, a system may measure either physical

characteristics of the fingers or the hands. These include length, width,
thickness and surface area of the hand. One interesting characteristic is that
some systems require a small biometric sample.

Signature Verification:

This technology uses the dynamic analysis of a signature to authenticate a

person. The technology is based on measuring speed, pressure and angle used
by the person when a signature is produced. One focus for this technology has
been e-business applications and other applications where signature is an
accepted method of personal authentication.
 CONCLUSIONS
There are many mature biometric systems available now. Proper design and
implementation of the biometric system can indeed increase the overall
security. There are numerous conditions that must be taken in account when
designing a secure biometric system. First, it is necessary to realize that
biometrics is not secrets. This implies that care should be taken and it is not
secure to generate any cryptographic keys from them. Second, it is necessary
to trust the input device and make the communication link secure. Third, the
input device needs to be verified. Iridian process is defined for rapid exhaustive
search for very large databases: distinctive capability required for
authentication today. The extremely low probabilities of getting a false match
enable the iris recognition algorithms to search through extremely large
databases, even of a national or planetary scale. As iris technology superiority
has already allowed it to make significant inroads into identification and
security venues which had been dominated by other biometrics. Iris-based
biometric technology has always been an exceptionally accurate one, and it
may soon grow much more prominent.

REFERENCES:-

1. www.scribd.com/doc/50033821

2. www.wikipedia.com

3. Parvathi Ambalakat,” Security of Biometric Authentication Systems”.

4. https://studymafia.org/

5. https://www.academia.edu/

6. https://www.google.com/