Biometrics Fighting Identity Theft

A new survey has revealed that UK consumers place most confidence in biometric technologies, such as fingerprint recognition, to help combat the rapidly growing identity theft industry, which is now estimated to be costing UK industry £1.7 billion per year.

The independent survey asked 1,000 UK households to investigate the incidence of and attitudes towards financial fraud and solutions. The survey revealed that 2 in 3 consumers believe that banks should be turning to biometric technology in order to combat identity theft — a widespread problem which now affects 1 in 4 British adults according to Home Office statistics.

Despite token security being presented as an online authentication standard by some industry bodies, 92% of respondents were unfamiliar with the term and unaware of its use as a security measure. Once explained, only 42% of consumers believed that banks should adopt token security to help combat identity theft.

In comparison, the majority of respondents (73%) stated that biometric technology would assist banks in the fight against fraud and 48% placed confidence in smart cards.

Considering some historical resistance towards biometric technology, the survey demonstrated that consumers offer a high level of support for biometrics, which appears to have cemented it's position as the preferred security device in the war against identity theft.

Tensor have been incorporating biometrics into our time and attendance and access control systems since 2002. The two-factor authentication not only provides the additional security needed to safeguard a system, but also the peace of mind associated with knowing that you are protected against security breaches.