Biometrics and Finger scan
With the increased use of computers as vehicles of information technology, it has become necessary to restrict access to sensitive data. Biometric security and authentication is the most preferred one for this; traditional methods involving passwords and PIN numbers are not so reliable. Biometric methods require the person to be identified to be physically present at the point-of-identification but eliminate the need to remember a password or carry a token. By replacing PINâ„¢s , biometric techniques can potentially prevent unauthorized access to or fraudulent use of ATMs, cellular phones, smart cards, desktop PCs, workstations, and computer networks. An important issue in designing a practical system is to decide how an individual is to be identified. Depending on the context, a biometric system can be either a verification system or an identification system. This article briefs about finger scan method with emphasis on the scanners used in this technology. Bioâ„¢ signifies life or living organisms; Ëœmetricsâ„¢ signifies measurement. Biometrics refers to the automatic identification of a person based on measurement of his physiological or behavioral characteristics such as finger, retina, iris, voice and signature. A biometric system is essentially a pattern recognition system, which makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological, or behavioral characteristics possessed by the user. Finger print recognition, a popular biometric identification method, is available in present day laptops. Finger prints are unique to each individual and two fingerprints are not alike. Local ridge characteristics, occurring at either the ridge bifurcation or a ridge ending form minutiae. Finger scan is a biometrics product which provides some unique characteristic or physical property of the fingerprint of the individual. It helps to verify the identity of a person unambiguously. The imaging process is based on digital holography, using an electro-optical scanner about the size of a thumb print. The scanner reads three-dimensional data from the finger such as skin undulations, to create a unique pattern that is composed into a template file and recorded in the finger scan database. It stores characteristics of the finger, and not the fingerprint itself. The fingerprint cannot in any way be created from the template. A template can only be compared with a newly presented live finger image and not with other templates. One reason for this is that the data capture process used to create a template is random. If two templates were created one after another for the same finger, each template would be different. This eliminates the possibility of database matching, and enhances privacy of user