FINGERPRINT, FACIAL RECOGNITION, IRIS, AND OTHER SCANS ARE BECOMING MANDATORY FOR CERTAIN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Have you scanned your fingerprint to unlock your smartphone? Then you’ve already used “biometric authentication.” The news today is that biometric authentication is now going to be mandatory at certain critical infrastructure facilities, which is a somewhat significant milestone in the security industry.
How do you know that person next to you is who they say they are? Companies and other entities typically perform background checks and issue ID cards, but cards can be lost or stolen – so there is often no guarantee that the card holder is the rightful card holder. Biometric authentication effectively solves this problem.
While it was once exclusive to maximum security facilities such as the Pentagon, biometrics technology has gradually become more mainstream as prices have fallen. There are various methods for gathering biometrics, such as scanning a person’s fingerprints, eye, face, voice, or even their vascular systems. Biometrics are simply a way to measure the fine details of your body to confirm that you are who you say you are.
Recommendations
Choose Your Own Approach: As long as the proper steps are taken to integrate with government biometric systems, the affected facilities will be able to choose their own well-vetted biometric security system. We’ve designed dozens of biometric access control systems, and have seen the government’s biometric program evolve over the last decade. Regulators are wise to allow facilities to utilize their own biometric systems because technology changes quickly, and we want industry to be able to choose the most cost-effective security solutions.
Educate Yourself to Reduce Costs: Facilities can find clever ways to achieve regulatory compliance without having to buy an entirely new security system, and without tremendous pains in retraining staff or rewriting processes. Although there is still a knowledge gap for implementing compliant biometric technologies, that knowledge gap has decreased in recent years through industry education on draft regulations and through the natural infusion of biometrics into private industry security systems.
Design Carefully to Reduce Costs: It is important for facilities to design their biometric security systems carefully, because long delays can negatively impact operations. A well designed system can be a useful tool which improves operations, while a poorly designed system can continuously hurt the bottom line – particularly in facilities with heavy traffic. Facilities should work with the USCG to understand these new regulations, and should reach out to their industry peers who have worked on biometric security projects in the past.
Start Right Away: If your facility is affected, you must start planning almost immediately. The majority of these security projects have spent over 50% timecard software of their time being discussed by management at a high level, which allots less than half of door security systems the time to do over 90% of the work. It is difficult to be successful when all parties are rushed, especially if there are shortages of certain security components next year. Risk Fingerprint car key lock Group A facilities have just two years to be operating in compliance with the new regulations and to also update their official security plans. The clock is ticking.