A Closer Look: Biometric Security in the Workplace

A Closer Look: Biometric Security in the Workplace


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

Jon Dunn reportingYour eyes, fingers, face, even your veins. They all tell a lot about you as a person. Soon you may need all of them just to get around.

Almost everyone has a card key for work these days. Here at KSL the security is pretty tight. Without the card, you're not really going anywhere.

But take X-Mission Internet. Behind these doors rest giant Internet servers, full of sensitive information. So to get in here, you're gonna need your finger.

Grant Sperry, X-MIssion "It is a much better system than handing out key cards. People can lose key cards. They can be handed to people that aren't verifiable. You can not tie a key card to an individual."

Grant Sperry with X-Mission says the card key is o-k, but even though you give it to someone, it doesn't always mean it is in their hand. Take Identica Corporation for example. They've found an even more secure way to keep people out.

Dan Bird, Identica, "Somebody just puts in their PIN number, and they put their hand in and they're verified, and they can get in"

No two hand vein patterns are alike, even your own two hands are different. Identica's technology scans the back of the hand and reads those veins.

Dan Bird, Identica, "It's new to the United States, just last year. It's all over Asia... Japan, Korea."

Dan Bird with the company says the finger scans like at X-Mission are more prevalent, you can cheat them.

Dan Bird, Identica, "Yeah, you can beat it with Gummy Bears. Basically, mash Gummy Bears together, and then, you know, copy the fingerprint right off and stick it on the scanner."

Bird says he sees a day when biometrics won't just be used to get in to work, but to use the a-t-m, or board a plane.

Dan Bird, Identica, "Cell phones have the smart card built right into them. Pretty soon, you'll walk up to the grocery store, scan you're cell phone, same thing, you'll scan your cell phone. It'll have your biometric template on it. You verify your hand, and you're good to go."

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast