The National Australia Bank (NAB) has decided to use biometric voice recognition software to identify the genuineness of telephone bankers. It is not the single bank harnessing biometric security technology. Sometime back HSBC started using biometric technology capable of recognizing over 2,500 different facial features to help it control access to data-centres.

Organizations requiring high security are either monitoring or using the development of the biometric security technology industry.

According to Bob McDowall, analyst at TowerGroup, biometrics is an option for banks, but he warned that there are uncertainties and challenges for banks that use it. "It is not 100% because people's voices and faces change. The banks will also have to ensure that the voice and facial data used is secured appropriately because people may see it as an invasion of their privacy," he said.

Healthcare is the another sector that demands very high security. According to Tracy Andrew, head of information and security at Berkshire Shared Services, the NHS Trust only uses biometrics in its nurseries to control parental access."We use fingerprint recognition and it has been 100% successful. It has also improved our efficiency by automating access."

UPEK, the leader in enterprise and consumer biometric fingerprint solutions, today announced availability of fingerprint authentication solutions for manufacturers of netbooks and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) to integrate into these new classes of portable, internet-connected computing devices. UPEK’s Fingerprint Authentication Solutions for netbooks and MIDs feature the latest generation TouchStrip® TCS5 Fingerprint Sensor optimized for compact, low-cost, low-power devices, and Fingerprint Suite™ Starter software that allows users to access password protected websites with the simple swipe of a finger.

As users of netbooks and MIDs take advantage of cloud computing applications and online storage of personal files, they are burdened by a growing number of different passwords to access their web accounts. To alleviate the pain of trying to remember these passwords, Fingerprint Suite Starter remembers and replays these numerous passwords with the simple swipe of a finger. The dedicated touch-based user interface offered by the UPEK TouchStrip Fingerprint sensor also provides a convenient user experience on these small platforms with limited or no keyboards.

”The sudden popularity of netbooks and MIDs underscores a shift in the way people interact with their devices and access the Internet,” said Vito Fabbrizio, Senior Director of OEM Marketing at UPEK. “Building on UPEK’s experience in making fingerprint sensors ubiquitous in laptop computers, we are also pleased to help OEMs and ODMs offer their netbook and MID customers with an innovative user experience that fits their new approach to computing.”

Fingerprint Suite Starter will be available starting in March 2009 with support for Windows® XP and planned support for Windows 7 Starter edition. In addition, Fingerprint Suite support for Linux will be available in the second half of 2009.
Source:www.businesswire.com