The In's and Out's Of Biometric Technology: A look inside at the future of security

 These technologies are being used for security purposes, employees and other staff remembers of The Drew Creamery will using these technologies in order to enter the corporation buildings, computer network, devices that hold important information, bathrooms, ATM’s, money safe, research labs, and to monitor attendance (Clocking-in/ Clocking out) at work.  Depending on how high you are in the company there are only certain places, and things that employees are allow to enter and get access to.

Biometric Technology is based on what you know, or what you have, and who you are.

To explain the risks and benefits of Biometric technology I will use a corporation/company as an example. Let’s say that the company’s name is Drew Creamery, and they are trying numerous types of biometric securities in order to find out which will be the most secured and fit for the company. 

­___These are only examples, not real life stories_____

The first type that was used at Drew Creamery, was the signature reader, which works by looking at, and identifying the motions the signature was first recorded.  It records how hard the person pressed while signing.  Each employee of the company needed to enter their signature into the computer before the technology was put into operation.  At first it was hard to use because it sometimes denied legitimate employees because of the little details of each signature. Eventually there was a burglary inside of the building and all the money in the safe was stolen.  This happened because a criminal was able to get a copy of one of the employee’s signature and was able to reproduce it in order to enter the building and then the safe. 

After the signature pad wasn’t successful, the company installed finger print/palm print pads all around the building.  Being that every individual has their own unique fingerprint the company thought this would work well. This meant that all the employees needed to do in order to enter were to press their index finger on the pad, granting the access.  Only the CEO had access to the safe, in order to keep track of the money.  One night the only two employees that were left at the office were the CEO and the janitor. The janitor, named Spencer has been having some financial problems and needed money.  Something snapped in his brain he decided to kill the CEO in order to use his fingerprint to enter the safe and steal the money. The same crime happened when the face recognition was put into place.  In order to break into the safe, and computer records that held important employee information, like social security numbers, home addresses, family information, and corporate credit card numbers the criminal used a face that they knew would be able to grant them access.  Not only did this criminal steal the money that was in the safe but also went so far to steal money from employee’s families using their social security numbers, and credit cards.

The DNA recognition biometric device was installed meaning that employees needed to place their head on the device in order to match their original DNA that was recorded.  This used DNA samples from hair.  It wasn’t successful because it was inconvenient for employees and some of the Drew Creamery employees were or had no hair at all.  These stories seem unrealistic but they are examples to show the pros and cons of the biometric.   

Short Video Inside Biometric Security: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL3Mjn7uAnA

Two types of Biometric Technology

Physiological Biometrics is used to identify body shape and physical characteristics of a person.  Examples are fingerprints/ handprint/palm print, face detection, DNA, and odor/scent recognition.  Other ways to identify someone is by their signature, which I feel can be dangerous because signatures can be copied.

Behavior Biometrics is used to identify an individual’s behavior.  Such as the pattern or way someone types, motion behaviors, and identifying a persons voice. 

 In conclusion:  The Benefits and Problems - Biometric Technology

Pros:

-       Everyone has a different voice, fingerprint, handprint, body shape, physical looks, face, body motion, and DNA

-       Finger print scanning can be installed on computers, cell phones, ATM’s, safes, and smaller devices.  From my research fingerprint recognition seems to be the most used and successful.  Fingerprinting has been the most widely used and has the lowest error rate.

-       Can improve and develop employee attendance by using it as a “clock in, clock out” system.  This will replace the widely used paper slips, which will also help the environment.  No other employee can punch in for another.

-       Fast and easy to use if the employees are trained efficiently.

-       Unlike ID cards and passwords, it is very hard to guess, share, and forget.

-       It allows security to use information, like where someone is at a point in time.  It can read where someone last entered.

Cons:

-       Expensive to install

o   On other hand some fingerprint technology can be bought for around $100.

-       No technology is perfect and there are always some problems that can occur.

-       There is a need for Tech. help if anything goes wrong.  So educating the users is another factor that plays into biometric technology and security.

-       Some users may not be comfortable using the technology

Research that has analyzed personal opinions on Biometrics: Illustrates the uses and the disadvantages.

http://www.techcast.org/Upload/PDFs/634122830612738824_Biometrics-VivianandGayathrilo-res.pdf

Places that are using Biometrics Technology and places where Biometrics could be useful: http://www.sciencedirect.com/

-       Schools- to replace library cards, meal plans

-       Walt Disney World Resorts- In order to prevent ticket fraud they use fingerprints to make sure no one enters the park that isn’t supposed to be their or have not paid.

-       Airports- wanted to make passports using facial biometrics in order to make it easier to recognize individuals and show criminal records

-       FBI and other government agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security - everyone that enters the United States must now five a fingerprint in order to keep track of individual’s records.

-       Banks- in order to stop/prevent ATM fraud, credit card fraud, check forgery

-       Hospitals- to keep medicine safe, records safe, and prevent doctors or other employees to steal medication.

-       Police Departments have been using fingerprinting for a very long time.  Now there are finger pads to scan their fingerprints.  This is to replace the ink and paper that used to be used.  It is now easier to send information over the computer to other authorities around the country and worldwide. 

U.S. Technology aides Congo Genocide

War in the Congo has served as a huge distraction in the region providing a convoluted depiction of what is truly taking place within the country. Disabling many international spectators from easily recognizing the active roles their nations have within the conflict. It has now been documented that throughout Congo's genocide the United States covertly provided arms, training, as well as military aide that facilitated this genocide. The U.S. Department of State's Fact Sheet released by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research claims that:

Small arms, ammunition, and other military supplies made within the continent also have played a significant role in these troubled areas. The government-owned Zimbabwe Defense Industries (ZDI) has profited considerably from the DROC conflict. ZDI provided about $250 million worth of arms to the ADFL (the Kabila-led armed force) during its 1996-97 campaign against Mobutu. Within the first few months of the current round of fighting, which began in August 1998, ZDI supplied Kabila with more than $90 million in arms. The DROC reportedly will repay ZDI with revenues from future mineral production.

Mobutu was President, known to some as a dictator, of Zaire before it become D.R. of Congo since 1965 till his death in 1997. After, his death President Kabila came into power. They both seem to have amicable relations with the U.S. Presidents during their terms. Former Presidents George Bush Sr. and William Clinton received the "Freedom Award" for their "humanitarian" efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it was during their terms as Presidents, the violence in Congo not only began but was the most violent.

Meanwhile, The World Policy Institute reported:
Major Findings

* Finding 1 – Due to the continuing legacies of its Cold War policies toward Africa, the U.S. bears some responsibility for the cycles of violence and economic problems plaguing the continent. Throughout the Cold War (1950-1989), the U.S. delivered over $1.5 billion worth of weaponry to Africa. Many of the top U.S. arms clients – Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan, and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo or DRC) – have turned out to be the top basket cases of the 1990s in terms of violence, instability, and economic collapse.

* Finding 2 – The ongoing civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) is a prime example of the devastating legacy of U.S. arms sales policy on Africa. The U.S. prolonged the rule of Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Soko by providing more than $300 million in weapons and $100 million in military training. Mobutu used his U.S.-supplied arsenal to repress his own people and plunder his nation’s economy for three decades, until his brutal regime was overthrown by Laurent Kabila’s forces in 1997. When Kabila took power, the Clinton administration quickly offered military support by developing a plan for new training operations with the armed forces.






This kind of action has been taking place throughout the current conflict, as well as prior to Congo's independence from Belgium in 1968. The United States provided all the tools necessary to protect its interests in Congo, which included large shares of the minerals being extracted. The incredible violence occurring in the region and the skeleton of an infrastructure Congo has for a government. This all seems to provide sufficient justification for why the region is suffering. Many do not take the time to wonder past the obvious and seek answers on why this genocide is occurring? Because of this, they fail to see how involved their nations are in providing the very tools being used to kill millions. The technological advances taking place in countries such as the U.S. have increased the value of D.R. Congo to other Western powers, due to the obvious advantageous of the mineral wealthy nation. Various minerals we use every day such as one of the most significant: Coltan. Coltan is essential to the production of cell phones and other high-tech electronics.

Coltan, is found in three-billion-year-old soils, like those in the Rift Valley region of Africa. The tantalum extracted from the coltan ore is used to make tantalum capacitors, tiny components that are essential in managing the flow of current in electronic devices. Eighty percent of the world’s coltan reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Major multinational corporations have been linked to the atrocities in Congo. Many of these companies realized what was at stake when Congo received its freedom. Congo’s lack of infrastructure at the time facilitated these companies and their nations in seizing control of Congo’s natural resources by sponsoring the conflict that kept Congo too occupied to recognize as well as act upon the exploitation taking place within the nation.


Sources:
http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/congo.htm

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/congo.htm

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/5-high-tech-genocide-in-congo/

http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/over-five-million-dead-in-congo-fifteen-hundred-people-daily/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7957