“Security” in general refers to “safety measures” and “precautions”, be it at home, work or on the road. The million dollar question is, “How does one safeguard confidential information at work, at home on their computers, on their laptops while traveling or even personal belongings in their homes without using too many complex gadgets, security tools, secret keys, access codes, or multiple passwords?”
The answer to this question would be a unique identifier beyond doubt with one of the strongest forms of security. Conveniently, this avant-garde technology exists in the form of a biometric reader, the solution to the future.
What is a Biometric Reader?
A biometric reader is a high-tech device that recognizes humans based on their unique physical traits such as retinas, fingerprints, facial patterns or even sometimes speech recognition.
Examples of Physical Biometrics:
- Retinal Scan: Examining blood vessels in the eye
- Facial Recognition: Determining facial characteristics
- Fingerprint: Examining fingertip patterns
- Iris Scan: Analyzing features of the colored ring of the eye
- DNA: Analyzing genetic makeup
How does a Biometric Reader work?
A person has their physical characteristic scanned (e.g. fingerprint) then the gathered information is converted into digital form and entered into a database. Before access can be granted in the future, the authorized person must continue to provide that same physical characteristic otherwise access will be denied.
Advantages of a Biometric Reader
- It is one of the most reliable security devices because not only is it more dependable than the average access codes or keypads, but it also prevents the user from the hustle of memorizing multiple passwords and having to change them frequently.
- It is affordable, user friendly, effectively recognizes identity and grants access to the authorized user in less than a second.
- It is more difficult to compromise the security of a biometric reader as compared to passwords, badges or even keys than can easily find their way into the wrong hands or be knowingly transferred from one person to another.
- A biometric reader can be incorporated into any security system such as access to restricted areas which require high levels of security, stand-alone laptops or laptops on a network and even a home security system.
- It is convenient and one does not have to worry about carrying keys or having to deal with changing the locks when you lose your keys.
For so many years, biometric readers have been predominantly used by government agencies to take fingerprints of consumers for identification purposes, however, today technology is advancing at a very fast rate such that some laptops already have built-in fingerprint readers, only allowing access to the authorized user. In the near future, biometric readers will hopefully find their way into high-tech hand-held devices such as cell phones and PDA’s to name a few. Some cars and homes might already have this feature, if not then it’s probably in the works.
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