Why Biometric Technology Isn’t Yet the Absolute Replacement for Passwords

A good security token is one that uniquely belongs to you and that no one could ever know, guess or copy. This is the reason why security experts suggest us to use long and random passwords for our security. However, it is not as easy as it sounds because it is difficult to memorize unique and strong passwords.

Biometric technology, as we know it now, is the preferred technique for securing any location. It had to happen by counting that it is a form of security so free of problems than that of the passwords that we have to remember. In biometrics, our finger or thumb impressions not only facilitate our work, but are also unique in nature.

In addition, biometric technology eliminated the problem of hacking, considering that it is not child’s play to hack your fingerprints than to crack the access code. Following security best practices, setting strong passwords for separate devices, and then memorizing them each time is not an easy thing compared to biometrics.

So if a biometric system seems so better in every department, why is it necessary to improve it? Why is technology still not the sneaky substitute for pesky passwords?

First of all, it is a certain fact that biometrics will play an important role in future validation. But we must understand that the system is not a cure for everything in the present moment. There are still many prevailing issues that need to be addressed to make the technology completely invulnerable.

Many researchers around the world have stated that it is not exactly true that biometrics cannot be repeated, as they tried to fool fingerprint readers and managed to get past digital scanners through a pair of special glasses. Furthermore, the biometrics that was initially instigated keeps all the data stored on the server rather than restricting it to the client, so breaching the security system is not impossible in this case.

Last year it was reported that at a United States Human Resource Management Office, the touch IDs of millions of government employees were stolen, first raising suspicions about the technology. Immediately after determining the threat, mobile phone companies quickly tampered with the fingerprint system on devices by adding a security password after touch identification.

This data breach made it clear that biometrics is not flawless. In fact, they have simply avoided passwords. Counting it can be very troublesome if someone can’t log in with their Touch ID, every software company from Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Google’s Android has also provided a password tool to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Therefore, it is not recommended to rely on biometric authentication at this time, as having a backup in the form of passwords is very important. This process is called multi-factor authentication (MFA) where we can put biometric as one of the two-way security procedures, while passwords are the other.

Biometrics is indeed a fantastic method of verification, but the technology is not yet completely foolproof. Therefore, it should not be taken as an absolute replacement for passwords, but should be implemented together with it for improved protection.