In today's ever-changing technological environment, security is constantly rising as an important issue. This affects everyone from individual users to even the nation. A security technology that is slowly becoming more and more popular for many uses is known as Biometrics.
What is Biometrics?.
Biometrics can be defined as "The science of using biological properties to identify individuals; for example, finger prints, a retina scan, and voice recognition (1)." In other words, Biometrics is a science involving the identification and comparison of individual traits which are unique to each person. Biometrics is constantly expanding, and includes devices that test DNA, facial features, as well as other properties which would be considered "unique".
Fingerprint Scanners.
Fingerprint scanners have been used in movies for ages, but never quite became practical to real world use. Recently, however, they are becoming more and more commonly used. Such devices are found in police stations, high security buildings, and now are being found even for personal use. One can purchase a keyboard or mouse with a built-in fingerprint scanner, or merely a USB device dedicated to fingerprint scanning, to secure their home computer even more. Unlike a password, everyone has a different fingerprint, making it impossible to "brute-force" or crack the sequence. Not even identical twins carry the same fingerprint. The essential purpose of a fingerprint scanner is to a) take an image of one's fingerprint, and b) compare it to pre-scanned fingerprints for authorization and access. Today's most common methods of fingerprint scanning are known as Optical Scanning and Capacitance Scanning. An optical scanner basically takes a picture of your finger and inverts it, making the ridges of the finger (areas which reflect more light) and the valleys in your finger (areas which reflect less light).