Biometrics: A helping hand in authentication

In simple words, authentication means providing a proof of who we claim to be. For an authorized access to work place or even receptive public place like airport, stadiums one has to give verification of identity through passport, id-card or signature. This is nothing but authenticating. Lately there have been incidents of unauthorized access leading to wide spectrum of criminal activities. The existing scenario demands organizations and government bodies, agencies, offices to enhance their authentication method from the conventional ones like carrying badges or id-cards into stronger methods guaranteeing more security. Biometrics is one such technology, which can provide security at places vulnerable to unauthorized access. Though biometrics have certain advantages over the traditional methods, and several nations do understand its significance in the growing exposed environment wherein invaders perpetrate easily, there are many institutes and organizations which are in a fix as to which biometric is best suited to their needs, specially because of a variety of biometrics available today in market; facial scan, hand geometry, fingerprint, iris and retina scan to name a few. My attempt through this research paper is to carry out a comparative study between two mainstream biometrics viz. hand geometry and fingerprint for authentication. Their performance has been compared with respect to certain aspects like speed, cost, accuracy and reliability. The comparison has been carried out using the SPSS analysis tool, implementing the Post hoc and ANOVA test to reach certain inferences regarding the two biometrics that are under comparison.