Advancements In Biometrics

Biometrics and secure digital solutions are evolving continuously with the increasing need for surveillance and security. Availability of greater computer processing power and sophisticated software algorithms have contributed towards the improvement of existing methods. These advancements have transformed the conventional ways of user identification and verification. The paradigms of next-generation biometrics have evolved in every aspect, from fingerprint scanning to voice recognition.

Major vendors are investing significantly in bringing advancements in biometric solutions. Technologies that are transforming our conventions are:

  • Phone ID and Voice ID: Combining phone ID and voice ID will not require the customers to enter personal ID or security numbers for completion of authentication. The unique enrollment process involves repetition of a short phrase to create a unique voice print. This proceeds with the need for customers to call from their registered phone numbers. This advanced technology comes with the ability to detect if user’s voice is being played on a recorder. The technology is a unique combination that offers the highest standards of security and also prevent fraud.
  • Facial Recognition For Airport Security: Advanced facial recognition play a vital part in ensuring safety and security. Thus, it has found an important application in airport security. There is an upcoming facial recognition technology at the airports that will ensure security in its highest standards. The security scanners, through which the passengers pass, will be equipped with an advanced biometric security system. With implementation of this technology, the passengers will not be required to print their boarding pass. This will facilitate paperless and self-boarding process.
  • Fingerprint Biometrics For Voter Verification Systems: Fingerprint biometric technologies are being implied to voter verification systems. These are developed to conduct elections in a peaceful and fair manner. This technology assists the authorities to verify and identify voters through fingerprints. It will reduce the chances of fraud, streamline the verification process and offer convenience to the citizens by reducing waiting times. This system will avoid the chances of multiple votes with different identities. Also, this will help in maintaining quality and confidentiality of data.
  • Cybersecurity With Biometrics: Improved biometric technologies provide new kind of digital identity data, ways to collect it and opportunities for its use. It greatly reduces the risk of unknown individuals attacking confidential data in different fields. Hence, biometrics will become an increasingly valuable tool for verifying identities in a deeply interconnected national security environment.

For more information on advancements in biometric industry, call Centex Technologies at (254) 213 – 4740.

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Key Lessons On Digital Transformations

PDF Version: Key-Lessons-On-Digital-Transformations

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Understanding Graphical User Authentication

With continuous growth in the number of cyber-attacks, user authentication has become one of the most important aspects in information security. User authentication is accomplished through passwords that should be entered by a user in order to prove his identity and gain access to a computer or communication system. Traditionally, text based passwords are used for authentication. However, text passwords are highly vulnerable and pose as an easy target for hackers. Thus, modern authentication techniques based on graphical methods are now being used to combat hacking practices.

Graphical user authentication is an attractive alternative to alphanumeric passwords. To setup a password, the users have to select an image at a series of subsequent screens. The images are presented specifically in a graphical user interface. As a large number of pictures are presented at every screen; the number of possible combination of images is extensive. This offers better resistance to dictionary attacks as compared to text-based password approach. Also, the graphical password approach is considered to be more user friendly than a text based password.

Due to the advantages that graphical passwords offer, there is a growing usage of these in workstations and web log-in applications. Graphical passwords are also being applied to ATM machines and mobile devices.

Categories of graphical password techniques are:

  • Recognition Based System: In this technique, the user is presented with a set of images and is challenged to identify a single or more images that were selected during the registration stage. The user has to identify the pre-selected images in order to be authenticated. Such recognition systems are also called search metric systems. To use graphical recognition schemes, the system is required to retain some information from user specific profile data. This helps the system to know which images belong to a user’s portfolio and display them at the time of login authentication.
  • Recall Based System: In recall based techniques, the user is required to create a drawing to set up the password. The recall based passwords are typically drawn on a blank canvas or a grid. At the time of login, the user has to reproduce the drawing that he created during the registration process. These graphical based systems are referred to as draw metric systems because user authentication is based on using the drawn image as a reference.

Following are some points that should be considered before implementing a graphical password:

  • The password contains image as a reference and encryption algorithm.
  • The login contains username, images, graphical password and related methods.
  • SSR shield for shoulder surfing.
  • The grids contain unique grid values and grid clicking related methods.

For more information on graphical user authentication, call Centex Technologies at (254) 213 – 4740.

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Latest Innovations In Blockchain Technology

Ultra-modern business systems based on latest technologies like Augmented Reality, AI, IoT and Blockchain are changing the way enterprises used to function. Among these, blockchain is a relatively new revolutionary technology that is impacting various industries miraculously.

Understanding Blockchain:

Blockchain is a global online database where data or information is stored in a chain of blocks. It is managed by a cluster of computers but not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data is secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles. Through this technology, you can securely exchange any kind of transactions. It has brought a new perspective to security, resiliency and efficiency of systems.

Innovations in blockchain have enabled more agile value chains, faster product innovations, quicker integration and much more.

  1. Lightning Networks: To match the current payment processors without sacrificing decentralization, lightning networks have been designed to facilitate majority of bitcoin transactions. This type of network does not need block confirmations while making payments as they are instant and atomic. It also allows financially viable micro transactions where transfer of value occurs off-chain. Only the balance of the channels is broadcasted, dramatically reducing the load of chain.
  2. Sharding In IOST: Internet of Services Token (IOST) is an enterprise-level blockchain system. Many blockchains are constrained by their scalability capabilities; so, IOST is implementing its unique form of ‘Sharding’ to overcome this limitation. Sharding is a method of data partitioning that splits a database into smaller and easily manageable segments called ‘shards’. The customized sharding method introduced by IOST is called ‘Efficiently Distributed Sharding’. It reduces transaction processing workload on individual node and increases the total transaction throughput of the network which is proportional to increase in number of nodes. This ensures that IOST blockchain is infinitely scalable.
  3. Secret Contracts: Privacy is pivotal for usage of blockchain among mass number of users. The privacy issues are now solved by some blockchain developers such as ‘Enigma’ by implementing an innovative technology called ‘Secret Contracts’. Data that runs through Enigma’s secret smart contracts can be processed by nodes without actually seeing any of the data they are operating on.
  4. Interoperability: Importance of interoperability in blockchain is vital so that users won’t have to switch from one blockchain to another blockchain for every separate application they are using. The leaders in blockchain industry, such as ‘Ark’, are working on harmonizing the blockchain space by facilitating inter chain communication. This can be facilitated by incorporating a technology that allows different blockchains to connect and communicate with each other.

For more information on innovations in blockchain technology, call Centex Technologies at (254) 213 – 4740.

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Application Of Sensors In Various Industries

Sensors are sophisticated electrical devices composed of sensitive materials that detect and respond to electrical or optical signals. They are also variably known as transducers. Usually, sensors operate in a variety of manners and are designed to sense physical properties like temperature or radiation. However, they can also be used to detect motion or proximity.

The industry of sensors is flourishing due to the advancement in material science and engineering. Its application is relevant in virtually all aspects of life to test, measure and control various processes.

Due to research and development activities, sensors have found application in various industries:

1. Importance Of Sensors In Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions: Sensors are one of the most important elements in IoT solutions. For an IoT system to work, a manual or environmental signal input is always required. Sensors collect data from the surrounding environment and are connected to IoT networks after signal conversion and processing. Note that different IoT applications require different types of sensors. Common types of IoT sensors include:

  • Temperature Sensors: These types of sensors have found application in air-conditioners, refrigerators and similar environmental control devices. They measure the amount of heat energy generated from an object.
    Humidity Sensors: Humidity adversely affects human comfort. Also, there are various manufacturing processes that are affected by humidity in the operating environment. This makes it essential to monitor the humidity level through sensors.
  • Motion Sensors: These are popularly used for security purposes as well as in automatic door controls, hand dryers, energy management systems, etc

2. Use Of Sensors In Healthcare Industry: Fitness gadgets and medical devices are extensively using sensors to monitor medical condition and health statistics of individuals. Sensors are also finding their way in technology that tracks progression of a disease. Sensors are also used in devices that finds out how medicines are interacting with patient’s body.

3. Aerospace & Military Applications: Due to the surviving capability of temperature sensors in extreme conditions, it has found widespread use in aerospace and military application.

4. Use Of Sensors In Chemical Industry: Chemical identifications are achieving accuracy as sensors are being integrated into cameras. For example, sensors are used to detect valuable minerals in rocks. This is possible due to the hyper-spectral imaging that gathers information about each pixel of the image. It then determines material and objects despite the complex background.

5. Use Of Sensors In Agriculture: Sensors are used to determine crop quality, pest infestation, effect of weather on crops, sorting of produce, etc. Advancements in sensor technology has allowed agriculturists to have better output which leads to economic benefits.

Most of the innovations in IoT are based on the efficacy of sensors to collect data from different sources.  For more information on how sensors and IoT devices can help your business process, contact Centex Technologies at (254) 213 – 4740.

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