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2017.02.13. 17:19:50
Data Security
...continued.
TOP TIP:
Check if your email address has been
involved in a data breach by entering it on
haveibeenpwned.com
.
The free resource was created by Troy Hunt, a
prominent speaker and author on web security, to help
people assess if they may be at risk from an account of
theirs being compromised.
Facebook Yubico Security Key
and several banks (e.g. HSBC and
Barclays) have introduced facial and
voice recognition to verify customers.
Because physical biometrics are unique
to each individual, they remove the
need to remember (or write down)
information – a major weakness of
passwords and PINs.
Researchers are continuing to
explore new methods of authentication.
Scientists at Binghamton University
in New York suggest that heartbeats
could be used for encrypting and storing
personal data, because each one is
individual. They point out that a doctor
could use an ECG-based biometrics
solution to access patient files simply by
holding a sensor to the patient’s skin.
Robert Capps, VP of business
development at NuData Security,
said: “As more business moves online,
it’s important for us to look for new
and stronger methods to positively
identify consumers online. The use
of bioinformatics for online human
identification (such as heart rate or body
temperature, oxygen saturation etc.) is a
promising area of study that would
provide a unique way of strongly
identifying individuals while
reducing the opportunities for
online criminals to impersonate a
legitimate user.”
He adds the caveat that, as
ever when data is collected
and compiled, there is
the risk of theft and
misuse and that this is
especially grave when
dealing with data, such
as health diagnostics
information, that
comes under the remit of the
Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA),
a US law setting data privacy and
security standards for safeguarding
medical information.
Capps points out that in the
future passive behavioural biometric
technologies might also have a role to
play in strengthening online consumer
identification. These validate factors
such as how someone walks, how they
sit, how they type or how they hold
their phone, which, again, are unique to
each user. Importantly, the user doesn’t
have to do anything.
“Passive behavioural biometric
technologies currently exist that are
used to uniquely identify users. These
solutions are passively collected and
dynamically analysed and have the
benefit of having an extremely limited
shelf life of usefulness, making
theft and successful reuse of
raw behavioural signals nearly
impossible,” he explained.
Until devices are smart
enough to authenticate users
without the user having to do
anything, utilising two-
factor authentication is
the simplest way to
add an extra layer of
security that makes
it more difficult for
fraudsters to steal
information.
blukii SmartKey
