The US Military Plans to Bring Biometric Passwords to the Public

Humans are always trying to improve security protocols that can protect against increasingly advanced online threats. Unfortunately, the threats only grow stronger in response, and the war against malicious online activity rages on. Biometrics are security measures that are growing in popularity, but are expensive and difficult to integrate. Now, the US military is funding a campaign to make it more readily available to end users.

Sky News reports that the deal struck by the US military is worth multiple millions of dollars, and is currently being carried out by the researchers at West Point. Other conceptual biometric technologies, like fingerprints or corneal-scanning have already been developed, but these types of biometrics are much different from the previously proposed ideas. Instead of concentrating on the physical characteristics of the users, this new method would examine the behavioral aspects of how a user uses their technology.

For instance, everyone moves their mouse differently, and uses a swiping pattern to unlock their smartphone. These are called cognitive fingerprints:

Just as when you touch something with your finger you leave behind a fingerprint, when you interact with technology you do so in a pattern based on how your mind processes information, leaving behind a “cognitive fingerprint.”

As Mashable puts it, “You pass authentication just by being you.”

One example highlighted was stylometrics, which analyzes the style and structure of a user’s writing. This can determine authorship in a similar manner to the way academic institutions identify plagiarism. The project to integrate certain biometrics such as these is already in its fourth phase, and is expected to soon be available to the general public for online shopping, banking, and more.

Is this something that should be developed? Some people aren’t so sure. Advocates of privacy feel that this new method may be used as a new tool for cyber espionage, or for in-depth monitoring of personal habits. This is mainly due to the controversy over the NSA’s controversial practices, but only time can tell whether these concerns are justified or not.

We might not know how effective these biometrics will be, but we know one sure-fire way to protect the integrity of your business’s network: Directive’s Unified Threat Management solution. With this device, your business will have a firewall, antivirus, content filtering, and spam blocking solution to keep your network as secure as possible. Malicious entities have an arsenal of different tools they can use to bring down your business, but with this comprehensive enterprise-level solution protecting your network, you’ll have nothing to fear. Give us a call at 607.433.2200 to learn more.