Biometric authentication is the bedrock of secure identity solutions
Based on unique human characteristics – such as fingerprints, face, iris, signature and hand geometry – biometrics play an increasingly important role in the battle against identity fraud. Passports, ID cards, driving licences and voter registration documentation increasingly incorporate biometric data.
“15 years ago, it was a question of whether biometrics would cross the boundary between criminal and civil applications” observes Olivier Faucher, Director – Digital Identity Domain, Thales. “Now it has become a standard and it is widely adopted in public-oriented applications – people can really see the advantages of this technology.”
Biometric benefits
The ability to prove who you are has major social and economic implications. For governments, biometric authentication is emerging as the cornerstone of secure border controls. For businesses, it offers unprecedented control over access to sites and data. And for the individual, it underpins civil entitlements, from driving a car to voting in an election.
Thales is a world leader in identity solutions and the company’s offer embraces the full spectrum of identity management services. These range from collection of biometric data from individual citizens – enrolment – through to the creation and management of secure ID systems and the personalisation of secured documents that go with them, including passports, driving licences, national identity and voter registration cards
Meeting the identity challenge
The market for biometric solutions is huge: around 100 countries are integrating or preparing to integrate biometric data into ID documents. But the challenges are also huge. Unlike traditional forensic applications, which deal with relatively small numbers of records, large civilian systems – those for national identity cards, for example – must be capable of processing tens of millions of records. It takes the expertise of a major systems integrator to handle data on this scale.
“Thales has been in this market for 30 years, we are present in more than 25 countries and we have deployed systems able to ensure the uniqueness of millions of ID cards” says Mr Faucher. “We have a legacy and a strong history. Our track record of global deployment and in-the-field experience are key differentiators for us.”
Biometrics in action
Large and complex project management know-how has earned Thales its world-leading position in identity management solutions. In France, Thales’ pioneering biometric ID solutions provide the foundations for the country’s first electronic passport. The system has been in operation since 2006 and it supports a production capacity of five million e-passports every year. Thales’ biometric solutions also underpin passports in Ethiopia, driving licences in Namibia, national ID and resident alien cards in Kenya and more recently, resident alien cards in France.
Creating a reliable database for identity records starts with capturing people’s unique personal details, including their civil status and recordable biometric data. Thales has developed its own technologies to ensure that the registration process meets the highest regulatory, security and quality standards. Solutions include both fixed and mobile stations to gather biometric data swiftly and securely.
Combating identity fraud
Secure personal identification systems provide everything from protection of national borders to access controls for an individual office building. To support this process, Thales has created TAMMIS – Thales Automated Multi-Modal Identification System.
TAMMIS is a complete identification management system, with functions that include data acquisition, matching and – critically – control: access is either permitted or denied on the basis of the checks and cross-checks carried out within the system. TAMMIS is capable of managing the details of tens of millions of people.
One person: one card: one record
TAMMIS is designed to guarantee the uniqueness of identity and provides an effective defence against identity fraud and counterfeiting. Does the individual’s biometric data match data held within TAMMIS? Does the individual presenting identity credentials – such as an ID card – have the right to use those credentials? These checks mean it’s possible to deny access to people presenting borrowed or stolen identity documents.
TAMMIS can be configured to meet different needs and it supports a range of biometric identification technologies. These include Thales’ proprietary fingerprint matching algorithms, as well as face, iris and vein patterns. Biometric fusion provides increased certainty. For example, both fingerprint and face data can be compared to provide an unprecedented level of security.
Secure enrolment
A significant proportion of attempted ID fraud takes place at the level of enrolment, so it’s of critical importance to ensure that only the right people are registered and provided with identity documents. Thales addresses this need with its solution for the Critical Workers Identity Card (CWIC) scheme for the UK’s Identity & Passport Service.
"We use our automatic fingerprint identification system – AFIS – to be sure that we deliver only one card to one person” says Yves Giniaux, Strategy Director, Thales. “This helps to prevent people applying for cards under different identities.”
Serving industry
Biometric authentication is an increasingly valuable resource for businesses too – particularly in the sphere of secure access control. Thales’ innovative Authorisation and Competence Management (ACM) solution is an example. Pioneered by Thales and developed in partnership with one of the UK’s leading rail businesses, ACM provides proof of identity and authenticates a person’s competence to do a job – something that’s of critical importance in high-risk environments.
Secure biometric solutions of this sort are set to play an increasingly important part in commercial and industrial implementations. These include protection of sensitive sites, such as airports, chemical plants and nuclear facilities.
“Biometrics is clearly a key element to secure critical infrastructure sites and there’s important future potential” says Olivier Faucher. “You need to be absolutely sure of who is coming on site, who is working on the site and who has access to different locations on the site. Biometrics addresses those needs.”
Video: Biometric fusion