Biometrics and social transformation

Biometrics is a science of recognizing person based on physical and behavioral characteristics. Biometrics has been gaining more attention in these days. The governments and businesses have realized that biometrics is extremely valuable to verify and identify users. The fingerprint, facial and iris biometrics become more common in social, commercial and governmental environments. The increasing in the biometrics has been proved by the success of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).  According to UIDAI.gov, 99.86% of population can be uniquely identified by biometric system. By the end of 2014, 600,000 million Indians have registered in the biometric system. These numbers demonstrate that biometrics is the best effective tool for government to benefit the citizens in term of social programs and services. Moreover, biometrics is a rapidly evolving technology that is being widely utilized in forensics, such as criminal identification and prison security, and that has the potential to be used in a large range of civilian application areas. Biometrics can be used to prevent unauthorized access to ATMs, cellular phones, smart cards, desktop PCs, workstations, and computer networks.

The applications of biometrics on business services and process improvement can help the citizens and the government to manage travel, trade securely with respect for individual privacy. For instance, in 2011, Europe Union’s Visa Information System announced that visa application the from non-EU holders passport can be processed faster and more securely thanks to the use of fingerprints and facial biometrics. These biometrics technologies will not only help to recognize the visa applicants and faster processing the applications but also reduce the illegal entries in EU and easily identify thefts.

The biometrics also helps to safeguard borders while encouraging trade and travel. The US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program which is one of the largest scale biometric identity management solutions in the world, allows the US Department of Homeland Security’s (US DHS) Customs and Border Protection division to found and verify the identity of travellers to the US. With a gallery size of over 110 million identities, US-VISIT helps the US DHS to manage a typical daily workload that includes:

·         Processing 989,689 passengers and pedestrians (300,000 of who are processed by the VISIT-US)

·         Executing 2,139 apprehensions of illegal entry, 616 refusals of entry and 107 arrests of criminals

·         Intercepting 71 Fraudulent documents

·         Seizing 6,643kg of drug

These biometrics technologies have improve the safety and efficiency of international and national borders and control the access to place, information and benefits.

On the other hands, biometrics also enables the secure delivering of government services to the citizens. In 2010, the India’s Aadhaar program was launched by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), aims to provide each Indian resident with a unique identification number to enable easier, more efficient and secure access to citizen services. This universal ID will use multiple types of biometric data for identification, including retina scans, fingerprints and multiple facial images. This project will introduce previously unavailable digital and e-government services in a secure way. Once established, universal ID has the potential to change the lives of vast segments of India’s population by offering secure access to citizen services, financial inclusion and the prospect of employment. The project is expected to bring a remarkable transformation for India, especially for the social security benefit system which is estimated for the loss of one-third of Rs 1.5 trillion (around $24 billion) by the end of 2014.

Moreover, as a growing emphasis on identity affects both citizens and businesses. Mobility, health, and e-commerce all demand robust form of authentication in the face of increasing security threats. According to Fraud Report 2014 of EMC, the global financial loss incurred by companies due to the payment fraud at the end of 2014 was $453 million. Biometrics technology is the most the effective and affordable solution for organizations and governments to reduce the identity theft and prevent the fraud. Specifically, in the financial industry, many companies applied the biometric technologies in order to enhance security in financial transactions.  Besides, biometrics also increases the personalization in the transaction processing cycle. Currently, there are more than 80,000 biometrics-enabled ATM in Japan serving 15 million customers. According to Infosys 2014, thanks to the rapid increasing in smartphone and Internet access users, the smartphone market for biometric security products and services is expected to grow from $30 million in 2011 to $161 million in 2015. Hence, biometrics can play a dual role of providing security for both smartphone and financial transactions on itself.  Biometrics is considered as a potential investment for banking and especially through mobile channels.

Ultimately, biometrics technology is also an effective tool that contributes to help the non-profit organizations in term of protecting and verify the identity of refugees. In 22^nd January 2015, United Nation has initially tested the new biometrics system which stores the fingerprint, iris data and facial recognition for the refugee in the Malawi Camp. Iritech is the only iris biometric company that the UN chose to supply the iris biometric systems for this campaign. There are over 17,000 refugee has come and register their biometric data to UNHRC.

Whether enhancing security or automating identity authentication, there is no doubt that biometrics is presenting new opportunities for public service organizations to excel. With the growth of globalization, increased mobility and the societal shift toward online activities, the pressure is on for biometrics technologies to increase security and facilitate business transactions while achieving greater cost efficiencies in public services.

Iris Biometric Time and Attendance management

A Secure Way To Manage Your Employee Attendance

Having trouble to manage your employee attendance and payroll?

Many industries rely upon time punching to help keep track of the hours worked by employees. However, the time card processing can take up valuable time. The amount of time card data collected and processed are manually entered into a database. It causes entry errors and wrong calculation leading to loss and inefficient business operation.

Recently, automated time attendance systems using PIN, password and cards have been used. However, the simplicity of this time punching system creates a situation where the system can be abused by employees, specifically “buddy punching” since PIN, password, and cards can be exchanged, shared, or swapped among employees.  Besides,  it is costly to change PINs and passwords or replace cards since they are easily forgotten or lost.

Manage employees by using iris identification

By utilizing the iris biometric that is unique to every human being, IriTracker allows the employees to register their irises as unique identity instead of PIN, password or time card. 

At the attendance terminal, employees will have their irises captured by IriTech’s iris scanner - IriShield. In just a blink of an eye, their irises are ready to be verified against the registered ones. If the verification succeeds, employees can clock in and clock out. Likewise, the company need not spend time wastefully to control the employee attendance and the real-time that they truly work. IriTracker delivers an efficient method that is beyond expectation.

How Iris Biometric Time and Attendance accomplish such mission?

IriTracker enables your business to accurately record employee working hours by requiring them to clock in and out with their irises. These unique physical attributes cannot be passed on to coworkers or colleagues. Iris images cannot be replicated, thus employers have the powerful tool to detect employee time theft. Once time theft is eliminated, employees tend to become more responsible and productive. This, coupled with the immense savings from the elimination of time theft, helps boost your profits and your return on investment. In addition, automation helps substantially when it comes to payroll preparation because it streamlines the entire process.

Iris recognition has been proven as one of the most accurate technology comparing with other biometric technologies. IriTracker solution takes advantages of the unique capabilities of iris recognition to integrate  highly accurate, environmentally tolerant, contactless biometric time and attendance solutions to simplify and streamline business operations which can be used in various organizations.

Take control of your employee real work-time

IriTracker is a full-control time & attendance system, developed by IriTech, Inc. – a global leader in iris recognition systems. Utilizing IriShieldTM, a portable yet powerful iris camera with on-board matching capability, IriTracker offers excellent solutions on time control, flexible bulletin board creation, auto payroll generation, and efficient human resource management for enterprises.

With IriTracker, employers can take initiative in all types of work by eliminating manual inputs, time theft, and identity card exchange or buddy-punching. IriTracker is not only a robotic pal but also an innovative processor that will synchronize and save your time!

Key features:

•    Friendly and easy-to-use  interface to simplify the usage for both  employees and administrator
•    Secure and automate clock in/out system to verify employees’ irises at the assigned terminals
•    Flexible and manageable  solution allows the administrator to add, edit and remove employees
•    Accurate and reliable time reports for payroll management
•    Automated messaging delivery to disseminate information to one or more employees via bulletin board function 
•    Multi-languages supports localization and internationalization
•    Real-time record to eliminate time theft completely and maximize employee productivity
•    Improve effectiveness by eliminating manual data collection errors
•    Capable of working in the most biometrically unfriendly workplace such as manufacturing floors, construction sites, processing plants, etc.

IriTracker can be running on both Windows computer and Android tablet giving alternatives to various enterprises. The strong point of this software is to dissolve the inaccurate employee attendance records arising from the unmanageable problems by using iris verification. The company can observe all clock in and clock out activities of any particular employee and being kept posted of their attendance events. 

Combine with a cost-effective and high performance IriShield - iris recognition device, IriTracker standardizes and automates 100 percent of the employer’s pay, work, union and accrual rules across all of departments. Designed specifically to support the complex requirements of small and medium-size businesses as well as enterprise-class organizations. IriTracker can significantly improve efficiency and simplify time management activities for all of the members of the workforce.

Automated solution that simplifies workforce management system

Hands tight when troubles become a deadlock!

Time theft and buddy punching

It addresses a major thread to many companies fighting to stay competitive in today's tough economy. This menace not only depletes your revenue, it also drains your business of productivity and efficiency.

Hassle timekeeping and  mismanaging workforce

Running a payroll that involves tracking employee time and attendance on time cards and time sheets can be highly stressful. There is no way of knowing if your employees are being honest about their work hours or if they are stealing from you with practices like buddy punching and time theft. Furthermore, you lose revenue on the copious amount of time needed to manually prepare payroll.

How secure is IriTracker?

IriTracker solution utilizing biometric function to authenticate employee identification through their unique biological features, such as iris template. These iris templates are unique to every human being and cannot be replicated. It is impossible to bypass iris biometric time clocks because employees clock in and out by verifying their iris image against he enrolled data. Since employees can no longer engage in time theft or buddy punching, your business will save valuable cost and become more productive.

Eliminating errors and time theft

The automated solutions provided by biometric workforce management systems from IriTracker not only enable a business to eradicate wage fraud, but they can also help a business achieve levels of productivity it has never seen before. Your payroll becomes streamlined with the real-time recording and processing of time and attendance data, and you can generate a number of reports that not only help you better manage payroll, but also keep an eye on employee productivity. IriTracker could truly be your company’s last defense against time theft! 

For more details, please visit www.iritech.com or directly contact us at info@iritech.com

CyLab's biometric research about Iris Recognition

Today the science of biometrics is merging with the field of information technology to create new methods for collecting data on a variety of other human physical and behavioral traits as well.  Innovative devices and technologies capable of analyzing such traits as retinas, irises, voice patterns, facial features, and hand measurements are already being used for biometric authentication across a wide array of areas including corporate and public security systems, military surveillance, counter-terrorism initiatives, and point of sale applications. 

Leading the way in the development of new biometric technology is Dr. Marios Savvides, Director of the CyLab Biometrics Lab.  With funding from CyLab, Savvides and his team of researchers are breaking new ground in the enhancement of existing biometric authentication technologies as well as the creation of revolutionary new ones.  Savvides’ work is specifically geared toward improving the use of iris and face recognition in biometric authentication systems. 

Savvides’ work in iris recognition focuses on two problems inherent to its use as a means of biometric authentication:  image quality and device efficiency.  Images collected with iris recognition devices are frequently of low quality, containing random specular reflections in and around the pupil and iris that impact the performance of iris segmentation algorithms.  To improve image quality, Savvides developed a more robust iris segmentation algorithm capable of segmenting an image of the iris in an average time of 3.37 seconds, versus an average time of 15.99 seconds using the old algorithm.  Reduced segmentation time yields fewer instances of specular reflection in iris images and lowers the iris segmentation error rate from 9.65% to 3.66%. 

Savvides has also focused on enhancing device efficiency. Most iris recognition devices can capture only one image of an iris at a time.  After each image capture, the device user must manually enter several pieces of identifying information, including whether the image is of a left eye or a right eye.  The single capture ability of iris recognition devices slows the data collection process and increases the likelihood that iris images will be misidentified and mislabeled.  In response to these problems, Savvides developed an iris recognition algorithm capable of detecting left eyes from right eyes, allowing devices to capture images of both irises simultaneously.  Tests of the new algorithm on four different iris databases have shown it to be highly efficient, adding no additional computation time to current iris recognition systems and with a 99% identification accuracy rate.

(Source: CyLab)

Brits predict death of coins and cheque books

Brits foresee the demise of cheque books and some coins in the near future as payments goes hi-tech thanks to mobile phones and biometrics.

Of 5176 people quizzed by Loudhouse for WorldPay, 77% think that certain coins will have been discontinued within 10 years, while 76% anticipate the end of the cheque book.

In contrast, most respondents see electronic money methods on the rise, with nearly two-thirds believing that they will regularly buy purchases via their mobile handset or other card payment methods.

A significant minority also expect biometrics to become increasingly common: nearly half believe they will be using fingerprint recognition systems to authorise the payment of their household grocery shop. Another 39% predict that facial recognition or iris scanning technology will be a feature in a decade and 32% believe that they will be able to speak to pay.

WorldPay, which commissioned the survey to coincide with the launch of its Zinc mPOS offering, says people are turning their backs on cash and form a negative impression of firms which do not accept card payments.

Geraldine Wilson, MD, WorldPay Zinc, says: "Consumers are falling out of love with cash. 72% of consumers now find card payments to be much more convenient; largely due to Chip & PIN technology being trusted by both merchants and consumers alike."

Earlier this month the Payments Council predicted that the number of cash payments made in the UK will fall by a third from 21 billion in 2012 to around 14 billion in 2022, as Brits turn to card and mobile transactions.

(Source: Finextra)

10 reasons why Iris Biometric Authentication should replace standard passwords

Iris biometric authentication in current research has shown to be a viable and more secure alternative to passwords. As more industries move towards online business, more customers are forced to remember passwords and pin codes, putting themselves at extensive risk for identity fraud and hacking.

Here are 10 reasons why iris biometric authentication should be taken into place:

10. Your passwords are useless
Deloitte predicts that 90% of user generated passwords in 2013 will be prone to hacking, even 8 character passwords with a mix of numbers, letters and symbols.

9. Passwords are hard to remember, especially “strong” ones
Experian, a credit-checking firm, found that the average person has 26 different password protected accounts and only uses five passwords for all of them.

8. Be one of a kind
Identity theft is a crime that victimized over 8 million Americans in 2011.

7. Reliable and robust
Among the present biometric traits, iris is found to be the most reliable and accurate due to the rich texture of iris patterns, persistence of features through the life time of an individual and it is neither duplicable nor imitable. These characteristics make it more attractive for used as a biometric feature to identify individuals.

6. Even your bank can be compromised
Combining both ATM and credit card skimming, the US Secret Service estimates the annual cost to consumers and businesses is $8 billion.

5. Nearly impossible to replicate
Iris Biometric authentication verify a person’s iris template with an embedded iris scanner. Although a person’s irises are as unique as their fingerprint, irises cannot be replicated with contact lenses.

4. Even your keyboard is prone to hacking
In 2008, 76% of the confidential information threats used a keystroke-logging component to steal personal information from computers.

3. You are losing money!
Through 2016, the financial impact of cybercrime will grow 10 percent per year due to continuing discovery of new vulnerabilities.

2. A safer online future
The growth of Internet and mobile commerce will be overall more reliable and protected from the future of new hacker technology.

1. Never remember another password!
Iris biometric authentication means you will never have to remember any more passwords (not that you ever did).

Would you feel like your bank account/online identity is more secure with iris biometric authentication than a standard password or PIN? Tell us what you think about the potential shift to iris biometric authentication methods in the comments section below.

Tired of having too many passwords?

Obsolete Passwords

“I HATE REMEMBERING PASSWORDS” – isn’t this a common expression from most of us today?

How secure is your password? Imagine yourself surrounded by several gadgets such as smartphone, tablet, laptop, and so on; a multitude of passwords will be required before you get a single touch on those goodies. Many of us, in fear of forgetfulness and confusion, create the same password for every gadget. Others even neglectfully set a random key to gain immediate access. Therefore, bloggers and other professionals persistently warn and advise users to strengthen their passwords.

The moment you open up Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, or thousands of connections out in the virtual world; all of them require one common thing: Log on with your account information to grant access. And for every account, you must remember the proper username and password to log in respectively. The mantra of choosing long, complex passwords that cannot be easily guessed or retrieved has been a common method for security.
It has become customary that passwords should be comprised of uppercase and lower case letters, numerals, and special characters. Even though this may seem like a simple task, at the end of the day, juggling around an endless combination of usernames and passwords is the last thing you want to worry about.
Take a look at the infographic made by [Backgroucheck.org]

 "Is there any other way to replace passwords?" - Yes, absolutely there is.

IriTech is now releasing its newly developed application named ForYourIrisOnly (FYIO). The aim of FYIO is to manage all the complicated passwords with iris verification. No one can log on your computer/laptop and mobile/tablet by simply keying in the cracked or stolen password but only by giving the correct iris image, which is only yours. Faced with daily net-surfing, online shopping, and social networking, you can now be free from remembering multiple accounts. FYIO poises its two factor authentication that impressively protects these account from theft, loss, and forgetfulness.

Check out its features here.



IriShield Monocular Series

IriShield™ Monocular Introduction

The IriShield™‐USB 2120U camera features IriTech’s superior iris matching and iris image quality assessment algorithms to provide good quality images and avoid false positives while maximizing true positive identification rates. The embedded algorithms can complete a matching query against 1,000 stored templates in 750 milliseconds.

In addition, with IriTech’s on‐board PKI‐like security infrastructure, sensitive data is completely secured in both storage and communication.



IriShield™‐USB MK 2120U

The IriShield™‐USB MK 2120U is ultra-compact and ready‐to‐use monocular iris camera, which is highly portable and fashionable looking, ideal for biometric service providers or value‐added resellers to develop application systems.

  

IriShield™‐USB MO 2120U

The IriShield™‐USB MO 2120U is an auto‐capture camera module with on‐board iris recognition feature. All components are assembled on a single board smaller than half a credit card in size, ready to be integrated seamlessly into customers’ existing product lines.

Key Features

  

• Secure on-board processing
• All key functions like iris capture, iris recognition, key generation, encryption, and digital signature are done on-board in a secure environment.
• Tamper-proof
• Secure data & communication
• Each IriShield device has its own 2048 bit RSA key securely generated on-board for encryption and digital signature.
• Key device in IriTech’s secure end-to-end biometric solution.
• OTP/Password/Timestamp can be seamlessly integrated with IriShield.
• Ultra-compact, light weight
• Low power consumption
• Cost effective
• Most economical for projects of any size.
• Various OS supported
• Windows 32bit, Linux 32bit, Embedded Linux, and Android.

 IriShield™ Monocular Packages

1. Chip and Camera Set: Essential module components (CPU, firmware, and camera) are offered separately as the most cost-effective option for those with sophisticated manufacturing capability.
2. Module: Offered as a ready-to-integrate hardware component with all the drudgeries of hardware design and manufacturing already completed.
3. Encased Device: Ready-to-use, portable, and fashionable-looking camera. Idea for software developers or value added resellers to develop application system. No additional hardware required.