RE: Re: HomeVision access control???

[Keith Doxey <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Quoting Paul Gordon <paul_gordon@hotmail.com>:

> I think all this cardreader stuff is a dead loss anyway... - what you
want
> is one of these....
>
> http://www.techsecurityservices.co.uk/door_locks.php#fs100ts300
>

No I dont !!!!

Sliced a chunk out of my fingertip last week opening a can of Tuna.

Even if the damage to the finger hadnt been enough to stop a good read of
the
fingerprint, the bandage enclosing said digit would certainly have left me
out
in the cold...and today is bloody cold!

I actually attended quite an interesting lecture on Biometrics and one
point
that I noted was that things like Fingerprints and Iris Scans etc are not a
very good way of identifying people. They are a very good way of CONFIRMING
who
someone is.

The algorithms that deciper the fingerprint or iris scan can NEVER achieve
100%
matching. What they do is identify key points within the image and match
those
to a stored set of data relating to that image. They then mark a score
against
it and depending on the score you chose to allow or disallow access. The
higher
the security required, the higher the score required to gain access even if
it
means multiple attempts to get in.

In order to get a fast enough response time you need to know who the person
claims to be before you start.

Consider a photo album containing a picture of each UKHA member one per
page.
Thats over 1200 pages with photos on.

IMAGE AS IDENTIFICATION
Someone turns up at UKHA2004 and says he/she is a member of the group.
You flick through the pages to find them, several hundred images later you
find
there picture and let them in. Meanwhile the queue of would be attendees is
getting longer and longer and longer.

IMAGE AS CONFIRMATION
Someone turns up at UKHA2004 and says I am member number 687
You flick to page 687... look at picture... let them in.

Access tokens like iButtons, Cards and Tags can be made extra secure
against
fraudulant use by the addition of a PIN. The doors at work are like that.
some
only require the card to be passed over the reader, others also require a
PIN.
Every card has its own unique profile associated with it giving total
control
over access rights.

Biometrics can be made more accurate by using it as a means of Verification
rather than Identification.

What was quite funny at the lecture was the ease with which some systems
could
be fooled. A facial recognition system took 5 attempts before it let the
person
in even though we could see both the stored image and camera image on the
screen and they looked the same. They the fooled the system by holding up a
black and white photo of the person and it let the imposter in first go!!!

Keith

www.diyha.co.uk
www.kat5.tv

UK Home Automation Meet 2004 - BOOK NOW!
http://www.ukha2004.com

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
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