Biometrics is the future of cybersecurity. According to ExpressVPN, the use of biometrics — that is, unique biological markers like gait, voice, fingerprint, or facial structure — for cybersecurity is on the rise.
In fact, using biometrics on personal devices has moved beyond logging into your newest iPhone. Recently, Apple announced they even have plans to equip their AirPods with biometrics technology in the future. This could protect your personal information while also reducing the risk of theft.
Need to know what else is on the horizon for biometrics? Here are a few of the trends you can expect to take center stage in the next few years.
Trends in Biometrics
With advancements in biometrics, we’ll start seeing biometric technology that moves beyond individual devices. For this to happen, biometrics information must be stored somewhere where multiple devices, including those that aren’t personally owned, can gain access to it. Of course, this means cloud-based storage.
With cloud-based storage becoming a viable option for biometrics, there are new concerns to focus on. For this type of storage to work, we must more readily share our biometric data with databases. Once in a database, it’s possible others can access our biometric information without express permission.
Of course, large databases filled with highly sensitive personal data also invited the potential for hackers and compromised databases. As biometrics move toward cloud-based storage and technology, it’s important to know that some of the biometrics trends will be focused on improved security for the storage of biometrics.
One of the ways this can be achieved is through the use of multiple biometric measures, just as we’ve seen in the past with multi-factor authentication. While we tend to think about biometrics as physical characteristics that cannot be changed, there are actually two types of biometrics. While one of those measures does focus on the physical, the other focuses on behavioral biometrics.
Behavioral biometrics are those metrics that are specific to your mannerism and way of being. You may not be able to recognize them in a still photograph, but from a video, you could see important consistencies, like the way you talk, your body language, or even vocal tics. Expect future biometrics to consider those behavioral pieces more and incorporate them into the more traditional use of biometrics.
As we move forward with these technologies, you can expect to start seeing a lot more use of biometrics in your everyday life. Public security systems may start to use biometrics to keep track of suspicious activity or people. Highly public areas like airports or corporate offices may regularly turn to biometrics technology to confirm identities and improve security.
The Future of Biometrics
Right now, the use of biometrics is speeding ahead. It’s obvious we’re going to see a lot more of them in the future. However, there’s been plenty of pushback about implementing biometric measures and a number of lawsuits about their use. Though the current trends suggest biometrics is a rising star for technology and security, it remains to be seen exactly how it’ll be used in the future, and what actions would it take to improve its security.
