Scientists are always trying to come up with new security technologies. Have people been lopping off fingers and pulling out eyeballs so frequently as to necessitate some kind of “improvement”? That could be what the researchers at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, in Greece are thinking. Their product is the electroencephalogram authentication system. Here’s a little bit on the technology from newscientisttech.com:
Since an individual’s brain activity is determined by the unique pattern of neural pathway in their brain, the same technique can be used for identification, Tzovaras says. “It could be a very good security control,” he told New Scientist.
The authentication system requires a user to have EEG measurements taken beforehand with further measurements for each authentication test. This is done via a removable cap, which communicates wirelessly with a computer that analyses the data gathered. The cap has fewer electrodes than are normally used for EEG measurements, but can still provide enough information for authentication, according to Tzovaras.
Currently users must sit quietly with their eyes shut during each test. “We ask them to close their eyes and not speak”,” Tzovaras says, which provides “a much clearer picture”.
The result of each authentication test is compared with the user’s pre-recorded measurements, using signal-processing algorithms. These algorithms can be tuned to different security levels.
One might think that a system this complicated must be pretty accurate:
A separate group, led by Rafal Wardzinski at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, is also working on EEG biometrics. In testing, this group found that the method could identify subjects with 88% accuracy.
Fingerprint scan accuracy is between 95-98%, and an iris scan is about 99.8% accurate. So why even bother?
Bonus question: Do you know what movie this quote is from?
My voice is my passport; verify me.