Can Tokenization Address the Biggest Biometric Authentication Fears?

Fingerprints, voice and facial features do make each individual unique, but there are potential risks of using them in security systems. This has led to a new biometric authentication platform that will make it much for difficult for criminals to steal identity data off central servers.

A software development kit (SDK) from HYPR will allow companies to use things like facial recognition or voice recognition as a way of getting into almost any application. According to SecurityWeek, it will also address any concerns about biometric authentication via tokenization, which will replace the critical data with random tokens that would be meaningless to cybercriminals. The technology is marketed at banks, health care organizations and a range of other industries.

Besides offering potentially huge advantages over default or forgettable passwords, biometric authentication may be on more organizations’ radar due to companies such as Apple and Samsung introducing fingerprint readers and voice recognition technology on smartphones, Mobile ID World suggested. If some consumers are still anxious about their biometric data getting into the wrong hands, HYPR’s SDK shows how it can be kept offline and less likely to be compromised by attackers.

Over time, biometric authentication might seem like a more natural part of everyday activities since HYPR is also aiming its technology at those creating applications for the Internet of Things (IoT), Infosecurity Magazine reported. As sensors bring connectivity to everyday objects, companies will want to make the process of logging on as seamless as possible. HYPR is promising its SDK can be added to existing infrastructure and customized to specific scenarios and forms of biometric identification.

Biometric Update said HYPR is already used by a number of bitcoin and mobile wallet applications. That’s largely because it’s a form of identification that benefits companies as well as users. In the case of streaming music or video services, for example, biometric authentication can help ensure a single account isn’t being shared across an entire family or with friends.

The HYPR platform is already getting rave reviews from sites like PaymentWeek, which said it covers the main objections most people have had about biometric authentication to date. The only danger now is the possibility that cybercriminals see this as a challenge and attempt to prove that tokenization isn’t as safe as it sounds.

Shane Schick

Writer & Editor

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