We provided an overview of the various biometric technologies, categorized in physiological and behavioural-based techniques. The basic principles of identification, the description of each of the architectures, the benefits and drawbacks were provided, giving the first idea about the level that biometrics has reached today. The presentation of each technique was concluded with a reference on the areas where each of them is most applicable.
We presented the access control and authentication requirements in e/m commerce applications, assessed the biometrics in terms of the defined requirements: It dealed with specific e-commerce applications in which biometrics can be applied. The advantages of e/m commerce were identified, while highlighting the risks and threats that have to be assessed in order to make the transactions more trusted. Techniques for enhancing trust in e/m commerce were spelled out, followed by an analysis of e-commerce security requirements and the role of biometrics in this field.
We described how biometrics could enhance Public Key Infrastructures (PKI) and Smart Cards, by presenting their architecture and detecting the need for an extra level of security. We provided detailed information on PKI in order to make clear the need of biometrics in this area. Smart card types were presented and associated with PKI and biometrics, proposing a security model for handling keys for access to private information.
We presented the cost as a parameter in the broad adoption of biometrics by e-commerce and m-commerce and as a parameter among biometric implements using different methods and operating in various business environments. A cost model, that is ideal for the biometrics field was presented, while providing financial information about the biometric industry.
We provided information about legal, societal, business and standardisation issues, presenting the current status of these issues and giving a full image of the needs that have to be satisfied, in order to make biometrics successfully adopted by e-commerce and m-commerce. Legislation shotfalls that have to be assessed in order to welcome biometrics and protect the citizens from abuse of their rights, societal issues that have to be considered in order to protect privacy and business matters that reflect the financial status of the biometric industry, were our main concerns. Information about the standards' basics and standardization efforts taken place in the last decade, were supplied.
We covered the technological and manufacturing aspects of biometrics, by going deeper to the biometrics systems architecture, by classifying these systems and by presenting criteria and testing methods for evaluating them. A generic biometric system was presented, while examples make the comprehension of technological issues easier.
Having examined, all these issues concerning the biometric industry, we were driven to some clear conclusions. Biometric technologies have reached a good level of performance and are ready to provide an extra level of security in e-commerce, when combined with existing technologies such as PKIs and smart cards. The biometric market is growing every year, making the approach of worldwide market connectivity clearly visible. The fingerprint market is the capital today and is expected to push even further ahead in years to come. Fingerprint verification, is combining high performance, medium acceptability and low cost, characteristics that make this technique the leader of biometrics today. Hand and face recognition come to the second and third place of the biometric markets' revenue, correspondingly. These three techniques are the most applied and supported by biometric companies.