Security News
GlobalPlatform has released a new specification to simplify and bring greater trust to the authentication of digital services on smartphones and biometric-enabled cards. Originally developed within EMVCo, the global technical body that facilitates the worldwide interoperability and acceptance of secure payment transactions, the Secure Element Broker Interface defines a standard to make end-user authentication simpler for all applications running in a GlobalPlatform-certified Secure Element.
"Modeling allowed us to infer what structures or material features of the human body actually differentiated people," explains Joo Yong Sim, one of the ETRI researchers who conducted the study. Notably, the researchers were concerned that the accuracy of this approach could diminish with time, since the human body constantly changes its cells, matrices, and fluid content.
Biometric payment cards with an integrated fingerprint sensor make contactless payments more convenient, more secure and hygienic. Infineon Technologies and Fingerprint Cards have joined forces to enable mass deployment of this emerging solution.
Google this week announced a series of security and ease-of-use improvements for the Autofill feature in Chrome. "Biometric authentication is optional. You can choose to confirm your card with its CVC and you can also turn this feature on and off in Chrome Settings at any time," Google explains.
HID Global announced the expansion of its biometrics identification management solutions to police departments and military installations around the globe. "The expansion of our offering to include iOS platforms broadens the adaptability and application of our mobile biometric solutions and equips our customers - from law enforcement to military officials - with the confidence to achieve rapid identification anywhere," said Jessica Westerouen van Meeteren, VP & Managing Director, Citizen Identity with HID Global.
Sensory, a speech and biometrics recognition provider, announced a modification to its TrulySecure platform that recognizes users wearing face masks. TrulySecure is the company's face and voice biometric fusion platform has previously been able to authenticate device users via facial recognition, and was previously unable to verify individuals wearing protective face coverings.
Incognia announced the launch of its location-based behavioral biometrics solution developed to combat rising rates of mobile fraud. Incognia location behavioral biometrics provides a new frictionless weapon for enhanced fraud detection and prevention.
The pandemic is expected to cause a significant pushback on biometric device shipments, creating a major revenue drop of $2 billion over the course of 2020, according to ABI Research. At the same, the pandemic has given rise to new identification and surveillance needs, spurring further investments in biometric AI algorithm design, which will give a boost to the face recognition technologies market going forward.
Passwords have been a staple for account identity verification for years, but with passwords continually reused or becoming easier to guess, users are realizing how vulnerable the tactic can be. More than half of IT professionals believe that eliminating passwords would improve the security of their organization.
Researchers have uncovered a potential means to profile and track online users using a novel approach that combines device identifiers with their biometric information. The details come from a newly published research titled "Nowhere to Hide: Cross-modal Identity Leakage between Biometrics and Devices" by a group of academics from the University of Liverpool, New York University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and University at Buffalo SUNY. "Prior studies on identity theft only consider the attack goal for a single type of identity, either for device IDs or biometrics," Chris Xiaoxuan Lu, Assistant Professor at the University of Liverpool, told The Hacker News in an email interview.