NASK Biometric Laboratories (www.BiometricLabs.pl) work on biometric identification and authentication methods for access control systems. The researchers focus on methods that involve iris, handwritten signatures, hand geometry and temperature, face and fingerprints recognition. The objective is to match biometric systems with required security levels and to integrate biometrics in proven access control scenarios. The Laboratories maintain a biometric multimodal database used in testing own prototype biometric devices and to evaluate commercial identification systems.

The advantage of biometric patterns is that, unlike codes and passwords, they are very difficult to change. The same advantage, however, involves the risk that biometric data may be stolen; therefore, it must be properly secured. The general public is also concerned with biometric data being stored in central databases. As a result, biometric systems are developed where the biometric sample is compared with a template stored by the user within a secure carrier, for example on a smart card. The Laboratories test the feasibility of such solutions; in particular, technologies that allow storing and verifying biometric templates on smart cards and in specialized microchips. 

In network applications, one of the ways to secure biometric data is to secure each transfer of such information. Biometric data transferred over a network must especially be verified for their authenticity, as forging other people’s identity by using their biometric samples stolen from a network is very dangerous. Preventing such fraud is an area that the Laboratories research using biocryptography methods and specificity of biometric data.

It is crucial for biometric systems, especially for those operating without direct human assistance, to verify that the measured human physical feature is not forged. Specifically, it is essential to verify that living tissue and not e.g. a plastic copy is being analyzed. Verifying the authenticity, and especially the living functions of the analyzed objects, is a major issue for biometrics today. It is also a major area of research at the Laboratories, especially with regard to iris and hand biometrics.

Please visit www.BiometricLabs.pl for more information on biometrics and check the NASK Biometric Laboratories offer.