While a large subsection of the mobile biometric software market is made up by standalone apps, especially now that the consumer market is in the midst of skyrocketing, the resulting proliferation of different authentication solutions sometimes leaves enterprises wanting. Particularly in the case of bring your own device (BYOD), or high level banking transactions, the risk at play due to having a smattering of security solutions of various quality among a workforce is very high and difficult to police. That’s why organizations in healthcare, online commerce and enterprises are turning to a new paradigm of biometric software: the comprehensive multi-factor authentication platform.
The Service Model
Diversity is a key consideration in the mobile landscape at this point in time, and a one stop identity management solution that can still serve a wide range of devices through the user’s preferred modality is a major benefit. When versatility is desired, as far as biometrics are concerned, software is the way to go, and as this increasingly becomes the case a new business model has started to emerge: Identity as a Service.
The Software as a Service (SaaS) model has signalled a major change across the whole software industry. Rather than buying into a single iteration of a software, customers subscribe to use the most up to date version, and are able to scale it for how many users intend to access it. One of the most popular examples outside of the biometrics industry is the Adobe Creative cloud suite, which allows licensees to access all of that company’s many products – from Acrobat, to Dreamweaver, to Photoshop – never having to shell out more for the next version update. Anti-virus software operates on a similar model.
With biometrics, the concept is the same though the name is different. Covered under the umbrella term of Identity as a Service (IDaaS) and characterized by flexible cloud technology, the solutions bring authentication to an incredibly wide range of scenarios.
Flexibility
The benefits of bringing IDaaS solutions into a business are many fold, but the flexibility offered is certainly one of the more impressive features. Take, for instance, the IWS Biometric Engine form ImageWare Systems which was recently chosen to be integrated into an IDaaS platform from Lockheed Martin and also powers the company’s own line of versatile solutions. The Biometric Engine offers the option to authenticate users via finger, face, 3D face, hand geometry, palm signature or voice.
GoCloud ID allows for subscribers to add biometric security to desktop and mobile devices via the tried and tested method of plug-n-play. It’s modular, scalable, and can be configured to best serve a business’s needs thanks to its software development kit
ImageWare’s GoVerify ID, which is also available through a service model and runs on the Biometric Engine, was recently chosen by OnlineAuction.com to provide login and transaction authentication for the site’s 200,000 subscribers. The authentication is flexible as described above and the authentication is processed in the cloud, taking the onus off of device owners in terms of carrying the credentials on their devices while providing uniform authentication.
Future Proof
Daon is another company that offers a versatile and comprehensive authentication software solution. The IdentityX platform is most popularly known for its integration into the USAA banking app which authenticates hundreds of thousands of mobile users with face and voice recognition. And while the success of the multi-factor biometric login for USAA customers is a great biometric success story, the IdentityX technology behind it also illustrates a major strength of the service model when it comes to identity management tech.
Readers of Mobile ID World and our sister site FindBiometrics will have noticed that over the past few years there has been a great increase in the rate of innovation when it comes to biometric technology. Not only have biometrics solutions become more accessible, affordable and easier to integrate, but new modalities are surfacing too. Daon’s technology anticipates this through a forward thinking approach to modality that it terms as being future-proof.
When biometric authentication is provided through a comprehensive software platform, the technology can adapt to include as of yet unthought of modalities. The door swings both ways too, allowing for backwards compatibility.
Through the examples set by ImageWare and Daon the benefits of large scale biometric authentication are clear, especially now that we find ourselves in a time of accelerated growth and innovation in identity management technology. Easy to integrate, flexible in deployment and scalable to the needs of the customer, these software solutions are already finding success in an increasingly competitive online security environment.
*
Join us through the rest of July as we continue to examine the diverse and convenient world of biometric software here at Mobile ID World. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and join the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #BiometricSoftwareMonth.
Follow Us