TECHNICAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES OF BIOMETRIC APPLICATIONS AS ACCESS CONTROL TOOLS OF INFORMATION SECURITY

Abstract

Recent advances in biometric technologies coupled with the increased threats in information security has proliferated the applications of biometric systems to safe- guard information and its supporting processes, systems and infrastructures. This paper discusses the technical issues and challenges faced by biometric technologies within the physical and logical access control applications of information security. The discussion includes concerns on the system performances with regard to robustness to the actual operating environment and recognition capability of different biometric traits. It also ad- dresses various security threats which include spoong and replay attacks. In addition, this paper highlights the challenges in interoperability as well as needs for reliable testing and reporting. The overall discussions provide imperative insights for an effective trade- off and risk management analyses in information security policy and decision making.