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AUTHOR: KERRY REID*

To modern companies, digital security is as important as physical security. There is a growing need of investments in the control of access by associates, visitors, suppliers, delivery people, service providers and vehicles. After all, one must be sure that people as well as property and operations are safe. Companies must also have full control over the access to information and databases. The international certification ISO27001 even lists information security management as an essential component of business best practices.

Access control – both physical and digital – has proven itself to be a valuable feature of competitive differentiation. However, it must not be limited to the use of obsolete technologies, such as regular cards or even passwords. In order to allow companies to have total control over who has access to each environment or system, biometric authentication has become the gold standard. Through fast, safe and convenient fingerprint recognition, people are granted or denied access to key components of a company's knowledge base and growth strategy.

Biometric technology based on multispectral imaging has been replacing passwords and showing superior performance in virtually every sector of the economy. It allows for the recognition of not only external but also internal fingerprints – structures beneath the skin. It is therefore able to correctly identify almost 100% of people in extremely diverse conditions, and promptly detect the use of fake fingerprints.

It should be noted that investing in simpler and therefore cheaper sensors can lead to security breaches involving the use of prosthetics made of transparent latex, silicone, rubber, or tens of other materials. Authentication technology based on low-quality images is thus vulnerable to fraud, and more sophisticated options are key to prevent those incidents. Multispectral imaging allows for the reliable identification of myriad users under a wide array of environmental conditions. It can provide organizations with detailed personnel monitoring, often required by internal protocols.

By investing in access control through biometric authentication based on multispectral imaging technology, companies affirm their commitment to the security of both people and information. They make it clear for every stakeholder that they acknowledge that providing an environment – both physical and digital – safe for everyone is fundamental in business, greatly diminishing the risk of physical security breaches as well as of cyber-attacks.

*Kerry Reid is Vice President Global Sales at HID Biometrics, an HID Global/ASSA ABLOY company – www.hidglobal.com/lumidigm