Future of Biometrics in Network Security - Literature review Example

? The Future of Biometrics in Network Security College: Network security has become a major concern for many organizations in the world today. Networks form the heart of the organization and enclose crucial resources that must be protected from unauthorized access. High intensity of network attacks has pushed organizations to invest in more secure systems that can resist external attacks and limit access of organization resources. The development of biometric technology has provided organizations with the hope of restoring security that has been undermined by skilled network attackers. This technology is more effective in authorizing and verifying identity of individuals within an organization. Nevertheless, adoption of this technology has been slowed by lack of adequate handling skills and that it is an expensive technology for many organizations. The purpose of this research is to investigate the future of the biometric system within the network security technology. By drawing facts from a wide range of resources, it is possible to identify the future of this technology in the future of network security. The Future of Biometrics in Network Security Introduction With the advent of technology, network security has become a crucial topic for every nation. Network refers to the connectivity between organization, individuals and even countries that allow people to access or be served by the resources that exist within these systems. Today, networks have become inevitable and at some point every person has interacted with a network within their daily operations. One characteristic of a network is that it is sensitive due to the sensitivity of the resources that exist within, making it vulnerable to malicious attacks. For instance, cyber-criminals will attack bank networks to gain access to personal credentials that can help them to defraud the bank of its profits. Each day, organizations lose money, information and other vital resources to network intruders. The increase in network crime has sent security technologists to delve into more research to provide better security systems that can guarantee the safety within networks. Biometric technology is one of the security measures that is slowly becoming a necessity in network security. Biometric systems refer to gadgets that use any form of physiological or behavioral characteristics of human beings that can tapped to identify or verify the identity of a person within a network system. This is a new technology that is finding its way into the network security due to its high reliability and efficiency in identification and verification of human identity. Commonly, fingerprints, eye lids, facial expressions, eye blinks, and even blood are used to allow only authorized people to access network systems within organizations. As the level of crime continues to increase within business organizations, biometric technology is likely to proliferate and the future of network security largely depends on this technology. Today, security technologists engage in deep research to adopt more integrative biometric technology that will enhance security network within organizations in the world. Literature Review The history of network security is a long one and dates back right from the time networks were discovered. Daya (2010) points out that network security is inseparable with networks due to the sensitivity of networks in their area of use. A network is associated with a definite number of people, hence the need to limit access from members outside the network. The network contains organization information resources and secrets that are motivators for intruders who intend to use such resources to their leverage. For instance, the military network contains information regarding national matters that have to be safeguarded to ensure that the security of citizens is not compromised. Terrorist attackers have a great motivation to penetrate the military network to enhance their malicious missions. As Daya Points out, a network without security would make organizations more vulnerable to malice. Network security performs numerous functions within a network system. One function of network security is to limit access of the network to only those people that are allowed within the system. Secondly, security ensures that the information contained in a network remains private and within the reach of the authorized people. Thirdly, it allows authentication by allowing users to provide the credentials that identify them as members of the network. The last role of security is to ensure that there is responsibility of action as credentials of every user are unique to that person. Overall, these roles of the network security ensure that there is no abuse, misuse or interference of network resources (Daya, 2010). Resources being the heart of an organization, there is a necessity to protect them from unintended use. A wide range of network security technology has been adopted within the organization in an effort to protect organizational resources. Baca and Kisasondi (2006) points out to the use of passwords to secure physical networks and to limit access of information. For instance, within organizations, each individual is allocated with a unique password to help them login on computers that contain organization resources. However, this kind of security has been criticized for numerous weaknesses that it possesses. First, friends within the networks will share the password information even with their strangers who visit the organization. Consequently, it is impossible to control resource use within the network. In addition, technology development has provided hackers with the ability to crack these passwords easily, making it almost a useless technology. In instances where organizations use the internet, or wireless access points, it is possible for hackers to acquire passwords on transit and access the system network without physically appearing within the organization. In this regard, passwords have failed to guarantee network security and safety of organizational resources. Other system security options have been applied over time to enhance the safety of resources within an organization. With the proliferation of the LAN/WAN technology and embrace of the OSI and TCP/IP network models in the 21st century more security has been demanded in organizations. Several security measures have been deployed to ensure that system resources are only available to the authorized users. For instance, the use of virtual LAN technology ensures that only authorized people access the network and that even authorized people access only those resources that concern their position in the organization. The virtual private network technology allows safe remote access resources through VPN client logins from remote locations (Mansell, 2008). Access control lists have also been applied to control information access within organizations. This intranet work security measures have their weaknesses as people share login credential and expose networks to malicious attack. Previous research indicates that there is much more to worry in the world today after the cyber space has extended network access to the global scope. Mansell (2008) points out that the society today depends on the contingency plans to secure networks more effectively as the risk of network attack poses more disaster to the world than any other time in history. Online business services has grown in the 21st century as more organization employs push strategies to reach more customers. At the same time, the crime rate has increased as more people continue to lose information and cash from malicious attacks. Each day, as people key in their password or provide their network details online, there more people attempting to access this information for malicious motivations. From this point of view, it is true that more secure networks are required to ensure that vital resources remain within the control of their owners. Research shows that the biometric technology is an invention that was developed to seal the security gaps left by password and other forms of network securities. The advantage of the biometric system is that they rely on unique personal information that cannot be shared by human beings. Personal characteristics from human palms, voice, fingers, iris and face are unique to every person and thus form the most unique way of authenticating a system user. Today, the biometric technology has become more common as people adopt it in the authentication within system hardware such as computers, in buildings, in the automation of machines, in transport facilities (Bicz, 2006). For instance, in the US, international visitors are required to present a machine readable visa provide biometric information as a strategy to target visiting criminals. The biometric system seems to provide a unique security feature that can guarantee high level security of network resources in the future. Methodology For the purpose of this research, valid secondary materials will be visited to investigate the adoption of biometric system in network security, it's efficiency, its current and future position in network security. Materials from the IT and network security agencies and bodies will be explored and analyzed to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of the biometric systems in its application in the network security. Validation of secondary materials will be conducted to ensure that the materials used for the study are reliable and factual. Findings A survey of a wide range of materials indicates that there is evidence of an increase in demand for network security. According to a report by Burning Glass Technologies, there is an increase in demand for cyber security professional and network security equipment. In 2012, over 65000 professional were demanded in the cyber-security profession, and there is evidence of an increase in the salary offer for these posts (Vijayan, 2013). In addition, there was more emphasis on network security as more organizations suffered cybercrime. This kind of trends promises demand for more biometric systems. In addition, there is a greater adoption of biometric systems within the organizational networks as a viable solution for increasing network security threats. More research continues to reveal more secure biometric systems that can be used to protect networks and guarantee security within business organizations. Baca and Kisasondi (2006) identified over 14 biometric systems that use both physiological and behavioral metrics to authenticate, identify or verify identities. The table below indicates shows the common biometric inputs and their efficiency in protecting network systems. Network security professionals have identified biometric systems as the most effective network security measures that can be used in the development of a cybercrime free environment. More research is still revealing more biometric inputs and readers to enhance security. In future, it is possible to anticipate more sophisticated biometric systems in the field of network security. Rajendra and Chun (2009) provided information on the acceptability of biometric technology in network security. In a validated research, the team reported that over 77% security professional regard biometric tools as more efficient in network security than passwords. Only 7% of these professionals felt that biometrics would be hurtful to the security of networks. Fingerprint recognition systems were more common, followed by iris recognition systems and finally the signature readers received the minimum vote for its capability in driving security within networks. These findings indicate that biometric system is a favorite network security technology in many organizations. The graph below shows the acceptance of biometric technologies within the network field. In addition, the survey indicated that the reason why this technology has experience limited adoption is because the prices of biometric systems has remained high. Apart from this, the skills to handle the technology are limited as the equipment requires a wide understanding of advancing programming and coding technologies. Consequently, the people have limited their network security within the traditional technologies. However, 2013 seems to be a turning point of the prices of biometric as the prices become more affordable and more organization invests in these systems. Hudson (2013) estimates that between 2013 and 2019 there will be a compounded annual growth rate of about 25% growth in the biometric health care market. Health care infrastructure developers have already taken advantage of the decreasing biometric market costs to acquire this technology within their organizations. With such an enormous growth rate of adoption of this technology, it is clear that more organizations will acquire this technology in future. Busch (2006) reports that organizations have expressed future plan to engage biometric systems to form a more secure future. For instance, the European standardization bodies are already developing modalities on how to standardize their biometric identification cards. Biometric systems have been found more secure since they cannot be shared and there is less risk of a use by a second person. As technology empowers people to fake identities and uses these identities for fraudulent purposes, there is a need for organizations to adopt more secure technologies to protect their resources. In addition, governments intend to improve efficiency in their organizations during major government operations. For instance, in the past five years, over 10 countries have used biometric voting systems to reduce the time scope of these operations and reduce cases of irregularities. This efficiency is attracting more countries to consider the use of biometric technology in identifying voters during election processes. This promises more use of this technology in the near future. Conclusion A critical analysis of the secondary research materials shows that there is a general increase in the demand for stronger security networks in the world. In the 21st century, there is rapid growth and adoption of IT infrastructure that has seen the world network grow in number (Busch, 2006). Almost every business organization today has a computer network that requires security to protect the resources contained within it. The increase in demand of network security professional worldwide indicates that security has become a core aspect of business networks. With the entry of internet in the business sector and development of hacking technology, networks are more prone to attacks than any other time in the history of the world. Consequently, security is a priority for any organization that intends to remain private and to limit its resources within the allowable crowd. The demand for better network security has triggered security technologists to device biometric systems that can provide more secure architecture networks. This technology is at the take off stage and more organizations have admired its uniqueness in verification and identification of clients. Most organizations have found it more secure than use of either plain text or encrypted passwords that are easily decoded by hackers. The inefficiency of passwords and other security measures, and the increase in network attacks, biometrics systems seem to have a bright future (Busch, 2006). In this regard, demand for more security networks will pave way for the adoption of biometric technology in various fields. The reason why this technology has been adopted slowly is because most organizations lack the skilled labor to install and handle this technology. As more institution shifts their focus in IT education, it is true that there will be more qualified personnel to welcome the technology in the organizations overcoming the main barrier to technological advancement. As organizations acquire qualified professionals, they will find it more comfortable to adopt this technology and to maintain it (Hudson, 2013). This promises more rapid deployment of the biometric technology as the demand for this technology has been limited by lack of technical knowledge. Cost is another factor that has hindered proliferation of this technology within the business industry (Vijayan, 2013). The initial implementation cost of biometric systems is quite high making it a challenge for business organizations to adopt. However, as the level invention in biometric technology becomes high, there is a promise that the prices will go down in the near future. As such, even small business organization will afford to acquire the technology and integrate it within the network systems. As such, it is possible to anticipate a higher acceptance of this technology in the world and consequently more secure networks. Biometrics will ensure safety of resources within an organization and reduce the crime rate in the world. Also, it's possible to conclude that biometric technology will gain more favor due its associated advantages. Biometric technology comes along with the advantages of automation and efficiency. For instance, through this technology, it is possible to automate the election process within the states (Bicz, 2006). Resultantly, organizations can conduct their voting process faster and effective without any concerns on fraud and irregularities. In industry, it is possible to use voice operated systems. In a century when efficiency is a necessary competence, biometric systems will gain higher demand in the world. In this light, the future of biometric system in network security is bright. The efficiency of these systems and their associated advantages provide network managers with optimal security advantages. As demand for more efficient system securities, biometric systems will be the only way to go to ensure safety of organizational resources. With increased network attacks and high organizational losses, the demand for better security systems will push the organization to acquire this technology that will be very affordable in the future. References Baca, M. and Kisasondi, T. (2006). Improving Computer Authentication system With Biometric Technologies. Retrieved from :< http://www.researchgate.net/publication /228975037_.pdf> Bicz, W. (2006). Future of Biometrics. Retrieved from : Busch, C. (2006). Facing the Future of Biometrics. Embo Reports 7(23). Daya, B., (2010). Network Security: History, Importance and Future. Retrieved from: Hudson, A. (2013). Health Care Biometrics Market to Reach $5.8 Billion by 2019. SecureIDNews. Retrieved from: Mansell, R. (2008). Network Insecuity in an Insecure World. Retrieved from: Rajendran, G., and Chu, V., (2009). Use of Biometrics. Retrieved from: Vijayan, J. (2013). Demand IT Security Experts Outstrips Supply. Retrieved from: Read More