The Ethics Of An Ethical Code - 1367 Words

An ethical code is a set of morals that a person or group determines to assist their own selves when it comes to decision-making. An ethical code is something that is pretty stable and should not vary based on the context of the situation. Some people form ethical codes that they follow on a micro level, such as only buying American made products from the grocery store, or they could be on a grander scale, such as how a CEO would lead a company. Most successful marketers have a similar ethical code that is the framework for their marketing efforts, but the variations and oversight of certain aspects of the marketing effort leads to a company’s inability to influence customers towards buying their product or service. An ethics code similar†¦show more content†¦Value-oriented framework is based on personal ethical problems such as honesty, autonomy, privacy, and transparency. Stakeholder-oriented framework is the way a decision can have an affect on a company’s s takeholders. And process-oriented framework deals with whether the marketing technique follows the main marketing categories (research, price, promotion, and placement) (â€Å"Statement†). The combination of the frameworks and how much weight they hold forms a marketing team’s ethical code. A company’s ethical code is heavily reflected in its marketing ethical code. For example, Abercrombie Fitch is an upscale casual clothing company who has a rich history of using young, in shape models in catalogues and to stand in front of the store to garner attention. Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie Fitch, came under a lot of scrutiny when he made a comment in 2006 stating, â€Å"We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive, all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don t belong [in our clothes], and they can t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely† (Lutz, 2013). This statement is the complete opposite of w hat you should do if you’re trying to influence potential customers to buy your clothing. It’s one thing to cater your products and

Vernacular architecture Essay - 1139 Words

Mankind has always struggled to seek shelter and was extremely resourceful in providing it. Vernacular architecture is the main result of this most basic human necessity. Vernacular buildings were designed in accordance with certain fundamental principles which included comfort, durability, functionality, aesthetic beauty and affordability. The sustainability in such buildings lies in the fact that they are built to adapt to the regional inhabitants and their needs, and regional conditions, including availability of local materials and building techniques, the climatic conditions and the socio-cultural factors. To ensure the practicality of these structures, builders use knowledge that is based on experience, tested by trial and error and†¦show more content†¦Malay House Peninsular Malaysia is located in central Southeast Asia along the equator and the majority of the inhabitants of the region live in small rural villages consisting of various units of Malay houses constructed according to their culture. Throughout the year, the tropical climatic conditions are stable with little variation; warm and humid with daily heavy rains. The main pressures of such a climate are the temperatures, solar radiation and high levels of humidity. An experience-based knowledge of this climate led to the introduction of several ventilation techniques for cooling and reducing solar gains into the design of the houses. Although they may seem to be constructed in unplanned sites, the siting and orientation are greatly influenced by the profound respect of the spirits, whom the Malay people believe live amongst them. When a new house is built, its position is decided by a spiritual man, who relates the house to the spiritual beliefs of the community and to other landscape elements. In the tropics, humidity decreases cooling as the air, already completely saturated, cannot be evaporated. The solution is proper ventilation of the building space since the saturated air will be cleared away, thus increasing the rate of evaporation and natural convection that dissipates heat away from the body and the house. Due to theShow MoreRelatedVernacular Architecture Identity Essay3577 Words   |  15 Pagesand use of architecture? Theme - The idea of the vernacular - architecture as identity The search for a cogent Australian architectural idiom. The idea of the vernacular is strong in Australian architecture and is often defined in terms of the city and the bush . Central Questions: What is vernacular Architecture? Has there ever been and Australian architecture? Part 1. In search of a critical framework to define Australian Architectural Identity (Is this required?) Vernacular buildingRead MoreUsing Vernacular Architecture And On The Passive Engineering Techniques Used During Times When Technology1779 Words   |  8 Pageshygiene to hyperplasia, people have come to know the best way possible to survive in the living conditions they lived. To help protect themselves from sun, wind, rain, snow and even enemies, one of the methods used is what today is called vernacular architecture. The practice of designing and constructing a building today may seem easy with modern technology at our finger tips, however 500 years, one can imagine the difficulties, trial and errors the inhabitants of different geographical locationsRead MoreVernacular Architecture Of The Past For The Future1647 Words   |  7 Pages RELATIONSHIP TO COUNTRY: †¨VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE OF THE PAST FOR THE FUTURE ________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Vernacular architecture, the simplest form of addressing human needs. Vernacular architecture originated when mankind was forced to make use of the natural resources around him, and provide himself shelter and comfort which is responsive to the climate. If anything to be taken from vernacular architecture, it provides a vital connectionRead MoreThe Impact Of The Environment On Regional Architecture1500 Words   |  6 PagesSurveying Regional Architecture June 21, 2015 The influence of the environment in Regional Architecture All through history, Architecture has assumed a critical parts in serving to characterize humankind s connection to its bigger environment. Architecture is not only a methods for giving asylum, but rather has worked as a built model for a bigger request, a moving vessel typifying the transient and cosmological comprehension of the world in which we live. Thusly, Architecture can possibly scaffoldRead MorePreserving the uniqueness of local cultures in their modern design interpretations.901 Words   |  4 Pageswhere universal mobility is taking architects and architecture across borders and through continents at an unprecedented speed. (Tzonis and Lefaivre, 484) The universalizing of culture is in some ways an advancement for humanity, however global integration is threatening to subtly disintegrate the stylistic innovation in architecture as the universal styles and cultures takes over. In order to address the threat of globalization in architecture, it is a imperative to focus on the use of criticalRead MoreHistory Begins At Home : Remember1917 Words   |  8 Pagesmost prevalent of these controversies is that which surrounds vernacular architecture, or the physical record of the common man including anything from plain wood-frame houses and rundown apartment buildings to shipwrecks, brickyards, and warehouses (Galant). Previously, preservation has centered on what is obviously beautiful or widely celebrated- the lavish mansions of great Americans or Romanesque cathedrals for instance. But vernacular buildings are not exactly places that coincide with the popularRead MoreMalaysian Architecture : Crisis Within By Mohammad Tajjudin Haji2085 Words   |  9 Pages ‘Malaysian Architecture: Crisis Within’ by Mohammad Tajjudin Haji is an analysis and critique of the struggle to develop a Malaysian architectural identity. His introduction mentions the peculiarity of such a search; since one must first either not have an identity, or has lost his/her identity, in order to begin such a quest. Whether this is a conscious effort by the people and the government, or a colonial progression that does not confront any architectural conscious resistance, the authorRead More Architecture, Power, and National Identity Essay examples2166 Words   |  9 Pageseven at present day, Malaysia’s national identity remains unsettled. Architecture plays an important role in achieving national identity and this essay aims to discuss the significant events that transpire throughout the history of the country that contributed in shaping and altering Malaysian vernacular architecture as well as to examine why Malaysia’s national identity stil l remains unsettled. The role of vernacular architecture in the 21st century has been kept to a minimum, given the practiceRead MoreThe Influence Of Corbusier And India On Corbusier1498 Words   |  6 PagesCORBUSIER AND MODERNISM IN INDIA Exploring the Influence of Corbusier in India and India on Corbusier Post World War II, Indian architecture was already on its way towards modernism and was being shaped by western ideologies. After independence in 1947, the Indian government voted on the reconstruction of Chandigarh which was to be designed as a new idyllic city. Albert Mayer and Mathew Nowicki were first commissioned to design the city but after Nowicki suddenly died, in 1951 Le CorbusierRead MoreAchyut Kanvinde1389 Words   |  6 Pagescultivate and appreciate values so that they can experience and sharpen their senses through observation and practice† - Kanvinde ACHYUT KANVINDE Father of Modern Indian Architecture Achyut Kanvinde | Born: 1916 Died: 2003 Gender: Male Country of Origin: India Biography: He entered the Architecture Department at Sir J.J. School of Art in 1935 then headed by Claude Batley, who was also the premier architect of the country. He passed out in 1941. 1943, he joined the newly formed Council

Cloud Computing Free Essays

Each group Is expected to work on a project and by end-term, submit a hard copy of the project and also, In summary, present the findings. The project should reflect your learning’s from the BIT course. Hence, the topic selection has to be such that your project should address one of the following two Study In depth any ONE area of IT Investments In an organization. We will write a custom essay sample on Cloud Computing or any similar topic only for you Order Now The study has to highlight the business objectives addressed by the system approach to implementation analysis of success or failure of the implementation. What you would have done differently – give alternative solutions and recommendations Finally, what Business related benefits were derived from the IT investments It will be Important to analyze in light of Management, Organization and Technology aspects of Implementation. Study of ONE technology for Its applicability, usefulness and Its Implications for organizations across an Industry. Study the business objectives for which the Information system was Implemented In different organizations. You study should cover the following analysis: Is purpose and need for hat particular technology Information system the same across all companies studied? Were the business goals the same for the technology implementation? Did all companies face the same risks, problems and challenges in implementing the technology within the company? Did you observe any common trend or practice emerging across companies of the same industry? Finally, what Business related benefits were derived from the IT investments Suggested list of technologies and industries that can be studied: Technologies Industries Cloud computing, AAAS, alas, Fertilization Retail Enterprise applications Like Banking, Financial services e-Business e-commerce Insurance Social media Manufacturing, Automobile Data-warehouse and Bal Telecoms You can select your own technology or combination of technology and industry. Submission of Synopsis Each group Is expected to write a synopsis ( not more than 2 pages) of the project the group intends to do. Synopsis will cover the Topic of the project Approach the group intends to follow Broad sections of the report Division of effort – list the responsibilities allocated to each member of the group Project Report Project report will be submitted in soft copy. The report should tallest be of 12 pages and not exceed more than 25-30 pages. Your report should reflect your group’s analysis and effort. Any report which I find has been directly downloaded from one source and reproduced will be completely rejected and no marks will be given to that group. Important dates 1 . Submission of synopsis: Gag 31st 2. Project submission: End of 18th session. The date will be confirmed by Seep 4th How to cite Cloud Computing, Papers Cloud Computing Free Essays These combine together and deliver services such as the delivery of software, Infrastructure and storage. There are different types of cloud computing. There are public clouds, private clouds and hybrid clouds. We will write a custom essay sample on Cloud Computing or any similar topic only for you Order Now Public clouds are virtual data center. A service provider such as Dropped makes resources available over the Internet. Private cloud are usually inside an organization’s firewall but it also could a private space dedicated to the organization provided by a service provider. Hybrid cloud combines both aspects of public and private cloud. What are the advantages of cloud computing? Cloud computing is very cost efficient as it is very easy to maintain and use. Cloud computing Is a lot cheaper than traditional software. As cloud computing is very high productive, It saves a lot of money and time. Besides cost efficiency, one of the advantages of cloud computing is that most cloud service providers are usually competent to recover information. It is much easier to backup and recover information than on physical storage device. Another advantage of cloud computing would be Its automatic software Integration function. Automatic software Integration means a person does not take hard effort to customize and Integrate applications. Cloud computing allows the person to customize easily. Not only it’s very easy to customize, cloud computing is also very easy to access information. A person can easily access the cloud from every single corner In the world with Internet access anytime. What are the disadvantages of cloud computing? Cloud computing offers a lot of positive aspects. But, It also has Its downside. From time to time, cloud computing system face some serious technical issues. Sometimes it is dysfunctional despite it is constantly maintained. Security issue is also one of the biggest concern in cloud computing. If an organization is using a cloud computing service provider, confidential personal information or other sensitive Information could be exposed to the third party. Hence, it is important to make sure that a cloud service provider you’re going to choose is secure. Cloud computing is very easily exposed by hackers or any kinds of threat because anything on the Internet is vulnerable to attacks. Cloud computing has made it very easy to access Information but one of the biggest flaws Is that It doesn’t provide with a lot of space. Most of the cloud service providers only provide less than BIBB of space to its user. A business 1 OFF organization chose a service provider, the organization depends a lot on the service provider. It would be very troublesome to switch from a service provider to another. It would take a lot of time to transfer all the files. How could a Canola Computer Store customer use Dropped? Dropped can store photos, documents, videos and files for its users. Dropped has applications for several platforms such as computer, mobile phones and tablets. Dropped is also accessible on the Internet. Dropped also allows its users to share their folders with whomever they desire. Besides sharing a folder, Dropped users can also send links of specific files, photos and folders. Dropped is a free service and you can sign up at www. Dropped. Com. Part B: Disposal of Data and Computer Components What are the two methods of secure data disposal? Sims Recycling Solutions offers two kinds of secure data disposal. They offer data wiping and data shredding method. How does each method disposes the data? Sims Recycling Solutions uses the data wiping method by using the industry leading data cleaner software called Balance to wipe the data in the hard drive. Data herding method is also used by Sims Recycling Solutions. Data is disposed by physically shredded by large shredding machines. Why dispose data using data wiping method? Data wiping is an excellent method for reusing purpose. Some organization uses the data wiping method to wipe all the data then remarked it and sell. By using data wiping method, an organization can rescue components of an equipment for maintenance and sale purposes. Data wiping also allows an organization to refurbish an equipment and donate for charities as it wipes all the data inside. Why dispose data using data shredding method? Data shredding is perfect if reusing an equipment is not an option hence requires data shredding method to physically destroy the equipment. It is also a good choice for Solid State Memory and non-magnetic storage devices such as DVD’s and compact disc (CD) because these kinds of storage devices need data shredding method to destroy them securely. How Sims Recycling Solutions deals responsibly, ethically and in an environmental friendly manner with electronic waste? Electronic waste such as computer monitor and television contain substances that are harmful to the environment if they are not disposed carefully. Sims Recycling Solutions offers to collect electronic waste such as computer monitor and television to local Sims Recycling Solution disposal centre. We use Sims Recycling Solutions because the company recycles hazardous electronic waste in an environmental friendly way. The company also recycle as much as they can. The company is able to recycle the glass in screens. Photocopiers, toner cartridges and printers can also be recycled. Sims Recycling Solutions has the technology to break toner cartridges for energy recovery and recycle them into raw material in an environmental friendly way. Recycling effective and environmental friendly. Sims Recycling Solutions ensures 100% data disposal in printers and photocopiers as they record everything printed or photocopied in their memory. Where can I dispose IT and computer? How to cite Cloud Computing, Papers

Growing up Asian in Australia-Free-Samples-Samples for Students

Question: Write a Literature Review on Growing up Asian in Australia. Answer: Conversation with My Parents by Oanh Thi Tran Communication is an integral part of life. Communicating information, ideas, thoughts, emotions are a part of life that is important because it helps an individual to lead a life that is fulfilling. Another significant part of a persons life is family. Family does not have to be necessarily be parents or related by blood; the people who are close to an individual can also be associated with family. In this short story the author tries to bind the two topics together on the same line. She tries to state the significance of conversation with the family and how it affects the life of an individual. The author did not have a very healthy relationship with her family and parents, she was always aloof and felt distant form them and hence after growing up she had decided to move to England. It was not until that her father was admitted to the hospital did she actually have a proper conversation with her parents. Telephonic conversations can be a little tricky as the communication is not happening face to face it is a little difficult to understand what a person is trying to say or trying to hide in the expressions (Pung, 2008). Oanh started talking with her father over the phone regularly after he was admitted to the hospital. He spoke about his childhood days and she enjoyed them thoroughly. Though the first conversation was drab stretched and boring as the she had not spoken with her parents for a really long time. The next one was with her niece and that broke the ice in between the family and her. Hence the calls continued, but then by the end of the story Oanh could not express her feeling and love for her parents because she still feels the hesitation which will not b solved by just telephonic conversations (Pung, 2008). Anzac Day by James Chong Growing up in a different country has always been a challenging affair for a child especially for the ones who come from a different ethnicity. There have been several incidents where people have faced bulling, biased behavior; stereotyping and even judgmental outlooks form various sectors of life. But the story of James Chong has a different perspective and a different issue all together. In this story he doesnt talk about what he has gone through in his entire life. He states an incident that broke his heart. The story is about how Chong was questioned about his patriotism when he was just a high school child by the national media. Chong was in the school band and played the bag pier, he was selected to play I the band on the converted Anzac Day. Anzac Day is regarded as one of the most patriotic and symbolically proud day for the Australian public. Like every other fellow student he also felt the same for his country and he was more than happy to be part of such a grand affair of the country. But he was struck by a feeling of exclusion, separation and abandonees when he found his image on the national media and the theme of discussion was True Blue? (Pung, 2008). Anh Do Famed by his stints from popular Australian television programs such as thank god you are here and dancing with the stars, the Vietnamese-Australian is now a popular name in Australian television. His ease and his non imposed easy humor was his claim to fame. He was also awarded the comedian of the year. In his interview he had mentioned that growing up he wanted to be a martial art champion because he thought it was cool, but he was witty and humor was always his calling the way he answered the coach of the jujitsu class was effortlessly funny. He readily accepted that he is a lazy person and that is the reason why he had opted for a change in career. He could not believe the sixty working hour schedule and he wanted to laze. He was offered 50 dollars for five minutes and that prospect excited him that he was making a dollar a minute but then it was five minutes a week and he continued it for six months. Anh Do is a witty and intelligent man and that is evident from the way he answers the question. He gives an example of his gig where he was caught up in between the comrades of martyrs who were killed by Asians. He describes it as a hard gig. He is of the view that the destination is secondary what people needs to focus on is the journey (Pung, 2008). Reference list: Pung, A. (Ed.). (2008).Growing up Asian in Australia. Black Inc..

Norse Mythology and Loki free essay sample

In Norse mythology, the evil trickster, deceptive, mischievous, and scheming, is one of the most well-known characters in Norse mythology. He was a trickster figure, as well as a shape-shifter. He could become any animal that he wanted to. That is how he can be the mother of Odin’s 8 legged horse Sleipnir. He was the father of two sons, Nari and Vali, by his wife Sigyn. He also fathered the monsters Hella, Fenris, and Jormungard the world serpent with the giantess Angurbooa as their mother. In the references I checked out, Lokis name is mentioned more than that of any other god, although Odin and Thor seem to be the most well known in modern times. He was a participant in many of the god’s adventures, often accompanying Odin, or Thor, on their travels, though he was always stirring up trouble. There are different stories on whether Loki was a god or not. We will write a custom essay sample on Norse Mythology and Loki or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In a lot of Norse stories Loki was not a god but a giant, the son of the Farbauti and Laufey. Although he was usually an antagonist to the gods, he sometimes lived in Asgard, the realm of the gods. The gods and the giants were enemies, but some stories have Loki had taken an oath with Odin that made them blood brothers, and because of these ties, the other gods enjoyed his company and tolerated his excesses and schemes Loki was always thinking up new angles, sometimes these worked to the advantage of the gods, but often they led to disastrous consequences. One of the better outcome stories when Loki hatches a plan to cheat the architect and builder of the wall around Asgard, a giant, out of his payment. Assuming the shape of a mare, Loki seduced the giants stallion Svadilfaeri. The horse was essential to completing the work on time, and this delayed the giants task by not allowing him to finish the wall in the time he agreed to. In this case, the gods were grateful for Lokis intervention, for had the giant finished on time, they would have had to turn over the sun, the moon, and the beautiful goddess Freya to him. As a result of this episode, Loki, as a mare, gave birth to Odins eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Loki had a hand in the disappearance of the goddess Idunn. He lured her in to the woods so that she could be kidnapped by the giant Thiassi. Since Idunn was the keeper of the golden apples of youth, which the gods needed to eat to keep from growing old, they were anxious to get her back, and they therefore forced Loki to use his trickery and magic to retrieve her from Jotunheim. To do this he turns Idunn in to a nut and returns to Asgard with her. When Thiassi tries to get her back he is killed by the gods. In another story Loki cut off the beautiful blonde hair of Thors wife, Sif. Thor was ready to kill him, and Loki, fearful but always scheming, promised to make Sif a better head of hair out of pure gold that would root and grow just like real hair. Loki then went to the Sons of Ivald, dwarfs of the forge. He had them make not only the golden hair for Sif, but also a magic spear, Gungnir, which later belonged to Odin. But Loki wagered with two other dwarf smiths, Eindri and Brokk that they would be unable to forge objects comparable to those made by the Sons of Ivald. Brokk and Eindri then forged the magic arm ring Draupnir, and Mjolnir, the magic hammer that Thor was to use ever after. When the gods had seen all these marvelous objects, they declared that Brokk and Eindri had won. Loki had wagered his head to Brokk, but managed talk him out of his head and to just saw-up his lips so that he could not fast talk his way out of situations. But Loki painfully pulled the threads out of his wounds and was free to lie again, and the gods were the beneficiaries of the wonderful magic creations the dwarfs had made. Lokis most terrible deed before the end of the world, however, was to cause, through trickery and sheer maliciousness, the death of Balder, Odins beautiful and peaceful son, whom all the other gods loved dearly. Loki disguised himself as an old woman and tricked Balders mother Frigg into evealing Balders weakness which was mistletoe, and then tricked Balders blind brother, into killing Balder by throwing a sprig of mistletoe at him and killing him. Because of this Loki was taken to a deep cave. The gods took three stone slabs, set them on edge, and made a hole in each. They sent for Lokis sons Vali and Nari. The gods turned Vali into a wolf, and he immediate ly tore his brother to pieces. Then the gods took Naris entrails and used them to bind Loki across the stones, with one stone under his shoulders, one under his loins, and one under the backs of his knees. Once bound, these cords turned into iron. Next the giantess Skadi brought a poisonous snake to the cave and set it above Lokis head. Then she let the poison drip onto his face. There they left him, and there he would stay until the time of Ragnarok, when he would break free of his bonds, summon up all the wretched souls in Hel, and lead the forces of evil in battle against the gods. But until then he would remain bound, with his faithful wife, Sigyn, holding a basin over him to catch the poison drops. When the basin filled she would go to empty it, letting the poison drip for a brief time onto Lokis face.

Free Essays on What Is Transference

WHAT IS TRANSFERENCE? Transference, as defines by our book â€Å"Theories of Personality†, is the â€Å"strong, undeserved feelings that the patient develops toward the analyst during the course of treatment. These feelings may be either sexual or hostile, but they stem from the patient’s earlier experiences with the parents†. Meaning patients treat the analyst the same way they had treated their parents in the past. Transference can be positive or negative or counter. Positive transference is the projection of positive, good feelings from the patient to the analyst. According to Freud as long as there was positive transference in a therapy session, transference does not interfere with the healing process. Positive transference lets the patient relive childhood experiences in a non-threatening environment. Talking about these experiences gets the patient to realize what the problem is and they are able to control it or eventually cure themselves. Negative transference is the projection of negative feelings and thoughts from the patient to the analyst. Negative transference means that the patient is resisting the treatment. They will have to get over the fact that they are they and that they need help. â€Å"Resistance can be a positive sign because it indicates that therapy has advanced beyond superficial material†. Countertransference is projection of feelings from the analyst to the patient, whether positive or negative. Carl Jung was the first to see and understand countertransference. Countertransference can be a help or a hindrance to a session depending on whether it leads to a better therapist-patient relationship. Sigmund Freud was the first person to realize that transference is necessary for a complete and successful therapy session. Transference is used to make what is unconscious conscious. In several sessions Freud started to see that patients would often react to him as though he were their mom or d... Free Essays on What Is Transference Free Essays on What Is Transference WHAT IS TRANSFERENCE? Transference, as defines by our book â€Å"Theories of Personality†, is the â€Å"strong, undeserved feelings that the patient develops toward the analyst during the course of treatment. These feelings may be either sexual or hostile, but they stem from the patient’s earlier experiences with the parents†. Meaning patients treat the analyst the same way they had treated their parents in the past. Transference can be positive or negative or counter. Positive transference is the projection of positive, good feelings from the patient to the analyst. According to Freud as long as there was positive transference in a therapy session, transference does not interfere with the healing process. Positive transference lets the patient relive childhood experiences in a non-threatening environment. Talking about these experiences gets the patient to realize what the problem is and they are able to control it or eventually cure themselves. Negative transference is the projection of negative feelings and thoughts from the patient to the analyst. Negative transference means that the patient is resisting the treatment. They will have to get over the fact that they are they and that they need help. â€Å"Resistance can be a positive sign because it indicates that therapy has advanced beyond superficial material†. Countertransference is projection of feelings from the analyst to the patient, whether positive or negative. Carl Jung was the first to see and understand countertransference. Countertransference can be a help or a hindrance to a session depending on whether it leads to a better therapist-patient relationship. Sigmund Freud was the first person to realize that transference is necessary for a complete and successful therapy session. Transference is used to make what is unconscious conscious. In several sessions Freud started to see that patients would often react to him as though he were their mom or d...

Gudie to employability Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gudie to employability - Coursework Example Employers anticipate these employability skills while the graduates enter a profession of their choice (â€Å"Learning and information†). Resources and activities are often linked to such initiatives as institutional employability awards. These awards are offered to provide students with an opportunity to experience the added value of learning from the extra-curricular activities (Lantz 9). Some of these experiences include involvement with student societies, recognition of volunteering, and skills developed through work-based placements. Universities nowadays take a lot of measures in order to guide their students to employability. Such measures include but are not limited to deciding minimum working hours for the students, providing students with opportunities to work and earn at campus, teaching students how to present and prepare for the interviews, and allowing students more flexibility of learning by providing them with the choice of virtual education (â€Å"Careers and employability†). Guide to employability is a very special and necessary service ever university and college must provide its students with in the present age in order to increase their eligibility and competitiveness for

Celestial navigation using Jupiter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Celestial navigation using Jupiter - Essay Example They suggested that the disparity in time amid the observed and the prospective time at a standard meridian would enable longitudinal meridian to be identified. The innermost moons had an orbital of around one and a quarter days and callsito. The outermost had a period of about 17 (Watson,13). It is through regular observation that they understood their motions developing comprehensive tables of predictions. The method of measuring longitude involves drawing comparisons between the planets and the moon thus drawing rough estimates of the longitude. The method by Galileo articulated that it took the earth twenty four hours to travel 360 degrees rotation, at any point. His meant that at every point the earth travels fifteen degrees of longitude in every hour (Watson, 15). They thus carried accurate clocks to the see where two clocks were compared one clock based on the home port and the other in the ship. It was mandatory for the clock in the ship to be reset to local noon time daily. The difference in time was an indication of the longitudinal difference travelled. One hour represented a fifteen degree in longitude. Longitude is calculated in degrees east or west of the prime meridian, with 180 degrees on either side of the prime meridian. ... Latitudes are equidistant from each other thus the term parallels (Silvio, 82). In the ancient times sailors used the latitudes in their navigation. It was during the Ptolemy era when a grid system for the earth was created. The earth, a circle, was divided into 360 degrees. Each degree was issued with one hour, and each minute comprised 60 seconds. It was in his book geography where the coordinated were published. The ancient sailors used sextants in measuring latitudes. A sextant is a navigational appliance that measures the angle of elevation of any celestial body (sun and the moon). This was done in an attempt to locate ones direction. The instrument was thus used to determine the angle linking two objects. A sextant spans at 60 degree which is a sixth of a circle thus the name. In measuring latitude, at the equator which has a zero degree latitude the Polaris is in horizon with zero degrees altitude. The elevation in the angle of Polaris above the horizon indicated a direct meas ure of terrestrial latitude. This means that in case the angle of Polaris was measured by a navigator and found to be 10 degrees from the horizon, then the ship is ten degrees north of the equator. At times they determined the latitudes through the directions travelled by stars over time. They articulated that if the stars rise from the east and they travel straight upwards then one is ate equator. In case the stars drifted south then one is at the north of the equator. This can be postulated to occur due to the movement of the earth in an orbit around the sun. The other method of measuring longitude was the use of the marine chronometer. This involved the use of a time piece that was to be carried in a ship and would maintain the correct reference time

Business ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business ethic - Essay Example In conclusion, the challenge was on both AWB and oil protocol. The main stakeholders in the case study are Iraq government and the international community including the US and Australia. Likewise, the primary interest of Australia was to obtain oil while offering food support to help in the recovery of the war torn Iraq after the desert storm. The primary interest of the Iraq government led by Saddam Hussein focused on protection of personal interest and development of the weapons of mass destruction. The ethical framework theories such as the teleological ethics can apply to the situation because it is based on the end result of the action. For instance, the food for oil, programs main aim was to ensure the Iraqis do not die of hunger after the operation desert storm which leads to loss of food reserves. However, the end result of the program was massive corruption making the idea wrong based on the teleological ethics theory. The consequence of the approach of the makes it a wrong approach in Iraq because of massive corruption and strengthening of the incumbent government which latter stocked itself with banned weapons including biological weapons of mass destruction. Utilitarianism ethical theory focuses on the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people. For instance, the attack of Iraq because of the existence of the biological weapons was considered a best option because it would benefit the whole world. Therefore, the theory supports the invasion of Iraq by the inter national community. The decision to open case against the eleven executive members of the AWB board is end product of unethical approach in problem solving for the Iraq case. The best approach was to ensure that the Iraq government pays for the goods and service provided instead of working on the Oil for Food strategy which failed miserable and led to empowerment of the incumbent government. In a good strategy in solving strategy ensures that

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics ABSTRACT Organisations have goals and therefore acquire assets to ensure these goals are met and the continuity guaranteed. Financial sector while trying to promote convenient methods such as online banking and use of ATM for their customers to access their money strives to ensure only the right person has access to the account. Also, military and national security services store high sensitive and critical information that must only be accessed by specific individual thereby deploying security measures to keep this tradition. However, achieving these goals largely depends on securing and controlling the assets as documented which means only authorised individuals have access to these environments and eventually the assets. Sequel to the importance of access control, different security techniques have been deployed to safeguard these assets which ranges from PINs and passwords, ID cards, smart card est. Vulnerabilities to these methods have lead to the recent surge in biometrics industry as many believe this is the future. Reasons such that the physical presence of the authorized person is needed at the point of access and also, the fact that it is unique and almost impossible to duplicate emphasis the benefit of biometrics and explain its glooming popularity. However like any other security methods, biometrics has limitations and threats which can impact its effectiveness and efficiency. It is not suitable for every application and can be a very wrong choice for certain applications. Therefore, it is essential to manage these limitations and threats properly to enhance the success factor of biometrics. Finally, it is important for any sector deploying biometrics to understand the various issues associated with biometrics such as privacy, standards and what the law requires of biometrics. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Organizations strive to secure their assets and provide means of controlling access to these assets. This process requires identification and authorization to ensure the right person is accessing the right asset. Over the years, traditional methods of authentication, mainly passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) have been popularly used. Recently, swipe card and PINs have been deployed for more security since one is something you have and the latter something you know. However, these methods still have vulnerabilities as swipe card can be stolen. Also, bad management of passwords has left people writing them on papers and desks or simply choosing easy and general words for quick remembrance which expose the password to intruders. More recently, stronger identification and authorization technologies that can assure a person is who he claims to be are becoming prominent and biometrics can be classified to this category. Biometric technology makes use of a persons physiological or behavioral characteristics in identification. Every human being is unique in nature and possesses physical parts completely different from any other person. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack did not help security concerns as governments and organizations all around the world especially the border security agencies have greatly embraced this human recognition technology. As both private and public entities continue to search for a more reliable identification and authentication methods, biometrics has been the choice and considered the future. WHAT IS BIOMETRICS? Biometrics refers to the automatic identifications of a person based on his or her physiological or behavioral characteristics (Chirillo and Blaul 2003, p. 2). It is an authorization method that verifies or identifies a user based on what they are before authorizing access. The search for a more reliable authorization method to secure assets has lead to the revelation of biometrics and many organizations have shown interest in the technology. Two main types of biometrics have been used mainly physical and behavioral. A physical biometrics is a part of a persons body while, a behavioral biometric is something that a person does (Lockie 2002, p. 8). He added that although there are some more unusual biometrics which may be used in the future, including a persons unique smell, the shape of their ear or even the way they talk, the main biometrics being measured include fingerprints, hand geometry, retina scan, iris scan, facial location or recognition (all physical), voice recognition, signature, keystroke pattern and gait (Behavioral). However, it has been argued by Liu and Silverman (2001) that different applications require different biometrics as there is no supreme or best biometric technology. HISTORY OF BIOMETRICS According to Chirillo and Blaul (2003, p. 3) the term biometrics is derived from the Greek words bio (life) and metric (to measure). China is among the first known to practice biometrics back in the fourteenth century as reported by the Portuguese historian Joao de Barros. It was called member-printing where the childrens palms as well as the footprints were stamped on paper with ink to identify each baby. Alphonse Bertillon, a Paris based anthropologist and police desk clerk was trying to find a way of identifying convicts in the 1890s decided to research on biometrics. He came up with measuring body lengths and was relevant till it was proved to be prone to error as many people shared the same measurement. The police started using fingerprinting developed based on the Chinese methods used century before by Richard Edward Henry, who was working at the Scotland Yard. Raina, Orlans and Woodward (2003, p. 25-26) stated references to biometrics as a concept could be traced back to over a thousand years in East Asia where potters placed their fingerprints on their wares as an early form of brand identity. They also pointed Egypts Nile Valley where traders were formally identified based on physical characteristics such as eye color, complexion and also height. The information were used by merchant to identify trusted traders whom they had successfully transacted business with in the past. Kapil et al also made references to the Bible, first pointing to the faith Gileadites had in their biometric system as reported in The Book of Judges (12:5-6) that the men of Gilead identified enemy in their midst by making suspected Ephraimites say Shibboleth for they could not pronounce it right. The second reference is to The Book of Genesis (27:11-28) where Jacob pretended to be Esau by putting goat skins on his hands and back of his neck so his skin would feel h airy to his blind, aged fathers touch. This illustrates a case of biometric spoofing and false acceptance. They finally wrote Biometrics as a commercial, modern technology has been around since the early 1970s when the first commercially available device was brought to market (p. 26). HOW BIOMETRICS SYSTEMS WORK A biometric system is essentially a pattern-recognition system that makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioral characteristics possessed by the user (Blaul 2003, p.3). Biometrics has so far been developed to work in two ways mainly verification and identification. Verification systems are designed to give answer to the question, Am I who I claim to be? by requiring that a user claim an identity in order for a biometric comparison to be performed. The user provides data, which is then compared to his or her enrolled biometric data. Identification systems gives answer to the question, who am I? and do not require a user to claim an identity as the provided biometric data is compared to data from a number of users to find a match (Nanavati 2002, p. 12). An illustration of a scenario using an identifying biometrics system is given below and thus gives an answer to the question Who am I? In October 1998 in the United Kingdom, Newham Council introduced face recognition software to 12 town centre cameras with the sole purpose of decreasing street robbery. Images are compared against a police database of over 100 convicted street robbers known to be active in the previous 12 weeks. In August 2001, 527,000 separate faces were detected and operators confirmed 90 matches against the database. Where a face is not identified with any in the database, the image is deleted; if a match is found a human operator checks the result. The introduction of face recognition technology to Newham city centre saw a 34% decrease in street robbery. The system has not led directly to any arrests, which suggests that its effect is largely due to the deterrence/displacement of crime. The face recognition system has been widely publicised by the council and 93% of residents support its introduction (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). The case study below illustrates a verifying biometrics system and supply answers to the question Am I who I claim to be? The US Immigration and Naturalization Service Passenger Accelerated Service System (INSPASS) has been introduced at eight airports in order to provide a quick immigration processing for authorised frequent flyers entering the US and Canada. On arrival at an airport, a traveller inserts a card that carries a record of their hand geometry into the INSPASS kiosk and places their hand on a biometric reader. A computer cross-references the information stored on the card at registration with the live hand geometry scan. The complete process takes less than 30 seconds. If the scans match, the traveller can proceed to customs; if not, travellers are referred to an Immigration Inspector. There are more than 45,000 active INSPASS users with, on average, 20,000 automated immigration inspections conducted each month (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). Verifying system is often referred to as a one-to-one process and generally takes less processing time compared to the identifying systems. This is due to the fact that in identifying systems, a user is compared to all users in the database (one-to-many). Verifying systems are also more accurate since they only have to match a users data against his or her stored data and do not need hundreds, thousands or even millions of comparisons like the identifying systems. However, it is important for an organization to decide the type appropriate for the applications. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology designed for this dissertation is mainly the qualitative approach. A quantitative approach has been overlooked due to limited time as designing surveys, distribution take time and response time could not be predicted. Therefore, my effort will be concentrated on critically reviewing previous literatures in order to acquire an overview of, and intakes on the topic. For more details, Journals, Books, Publications, Documentaries and previous dissertations related to the topic will be reviewed, compared and analyzed. The objectives will be achieved by purely reviewing literatures and previous researches and the literatures critically analyzed by comparing information obtained from different sources. Findings, recommendations and conclusions will be made from the analysis. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The aim of this research is to critically analyse biometric security as an emerging and booming industry by examining the positives and negatives and providing ways of improving the method effectively and most importantly efficiently. Since biometrics applies to many applications, access control will be the main focus of this dessertation. Also, issues such as privacy, laws governing biometrics and standards will be examined. The main objectives of this research are; To review biometric security and issues related to it. To evaluate the threats, advantages and disadvantages of biometrics. To propose ways of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of biometrics from previous researches. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is aimed at critically reviewing and analysis of numerous works of researchers in the area of biometrics, threats to biometrics, advantages and disadvantages and ways of improving biometrics efficiency in access control. The effect of privacy (human rights) and the need to conform to biometrics standards will also be examined and reviewed. DEFINITION OF BIOMETRICS According to Jain, Ross and Pankanti (2006, p. 125), one great concern in our vastly interconnected society is establishing identity. Systems need to know Is he who he claims he is, Is she authorized to use this resource? or simply who is this? Therefore, a wide range of systems require reliable personal recognition schemes to either verify or identify of an individual seeking access to their services. The purpose of that scheme is to ensure that the rendered services are accessed by only the authorized and not any intruder or imposer (Ross 2004, p. 1). Biometric recognition, or simply biometrics, refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on their physiological and, or behavioral characteristics (Jain, 2004 p. 1). Woodward (2003, p. 27) cited biometric industry guru Ben Millers 1987 biometric definition: Biometric technologies are automated methods of verifying or recognizing the identity of a living person based on a physical or behavioral characteristic. Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 10) provided several definitions of biometrics which include: Biometrics is the development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in the biological science. Biometrics = identification/verification of persons based on the unique physiological or behavioral features of humans. Biometrics is the measurement and matching of biological characteristics such as fingerprint images, hand geometry, facial recognition, etc. Biometrics is strongly linked to a stored identity to the physical person. Nevertheless the various definitions, it can be seen that the science of biometrics is based on the fact that no two people are the same and this has a significant influence on its reliability and success factor. THE BIOMETRICS INDUSTRY According to Lockie (2002, p. 10), the biometric industry did not really get established until the middle of the twentieth century. The researchers at that particular time were investigating whether various human parts and characteristics, such as the iris or the voice, could be used to identify an individual. This was made public by publishing papers and as a considerable number of these strands of research began to form a piece, the biometrics industry as we know it these days was established. As organization search for more secure authentication methods for user access, e-commerce, and other security applications, biometrics is gaining increasing attention (Liu 2001, p.27). Higgins, Orlan and Woodward (2003, p. xxiii ), emphasized that even though biometrics have not become an essential part of all systems requiring controlled access, the emerging industry has come a long way from its modern founding in 1972 with the installation of a commercial finger measurement device on Wall Street. He made reference to the highly respected MIT Technology Review called biometrics one of the top ten emerging technologies that will change the world. The growth in biometric industries is reflected in the numbers. The trio cited Rick Noton, the executive director of the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA), who reported in the Biometrics 2002 Conference in London, United Kingdom, that the industrys trade association has indicated the surge in biometric revenues over recent years. From $20 million in 1996, it has increased to $200 million in 2001 and Norton believes they will increase as the years pass on significantly in 5 years time. Also, a forecast made by the International Biometric Group (IBG), which is a biometric consulting and integration firm located in New York City, estimate that biometric revenues totaled $399 million in 2000 and will increase to $1.9 billion by 2005. Both IBIA and IBG believe that the private sector will be responsible for much of the growth. These give evidence of the relevance of biometrics in organizations in modern times. BIOMETRICS AND ACCESS CONTROL Over the years, biometrics has evolved rapidly and many vertical markets such as governments, transport, financial sectors, security, public justice and safety, healthcare and many more have adopted biometrics. Due to this wide range of users, biometrics has been deployed to many applications. Biometrics has been of high benefit to organization as they seek a reliable security method to safeguard assets. Fully understanding how biometrics work, it can be said that the ultimate aim of applying biometrics in the vertical markets listed above is to control access to a resource irrespective of the system used whether a verifying or an identifying process It has been stated by S. Nanavati, Thieme and R. Nanavati (2002, p. 14), that biometric systems are deployed for two primary purposes which are physical and logical access. LOGICAL VERSUS PHYSICAL ACCESS Physical access systems monitors, restricts, or grant movement of a person or object into or out of a specific area (Thieme 2002, p. 14). This could be implemented to control entry into rooms or even the main building. Popular examples are control towers, bank vaults, server rooms and many other sensitive rooms requiring controlled access. In physical access, biometrics replaces the use of keys, PIN codes access cards and security guards although any of these could be combined with biometrics as a complementation. Common physical access application is time and attendance. Thieme also gave a definition of logical access systems as one that monitor, restrict or grant access to data or information listing examples such as logging into a PC, accessing data stored on a network, accessing an account, or authenticating a transaction. In this case, biometrics replaces and can be designed to complement PINs, passwords and also tokens. Basic biometric functionality precisely acquiring and comparing of biometric data is often identical in both physical and logical systems. For example, the same iris scan data can be used for both doorway and desktop applications. Thieme explained that the only difference between the two is the external system into which the biometric functionality is integrated. The biometric functionality is integrated into a larger system. This applies for both physical and logical access system and actions such as access to any desktop application or access to a room via a doorway are effected by a biometric match. However, not every system can be classified as physical or logical access as the end result does not indicate access to data or a physical location and the result therefore may be to investigate more. An ATM secured by biometrics allows access to money, a physical entity. This is made possible by allowing the user logical access to his or her data. In the example above, the application is even difficult to classify as either physical or logical. Thieme (2002, p. 15) suggested that the distinction between physical and logical access systems is a valuable tool in understanding biometric. He noted that key criteria such accuracy, fallback procedures, privacy requirements, costs, response time and complexity of integration all vary effectively when moving from logical to physical access. WHAT ARE BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Stapleton (2003, p. 167) defined a standard in a general term as a published document, developed by a recognized authority, which defines a set of policies and practices, technical or security requirements, techniques or mechanisms, or describes some other abstract concept or model. The growth of the biometric industry has been relatively slowed by the absence of industry wide standards and this has also impeded various types of biometric deployment. Nanavati (2002, p. 277) stated that the relative youth of the technology in use, coupled with the disunified nature of the industry, has impacted the developments of standards resulting in a sporadic and frequently redundant standards. Nanavati also noted that the live-scan fingerprint imaging is the only segment of biometric industry with widely accepted and adopted standards. Due to this absence of biometric standards, some institutions have been concerned of being tied into technologies they actually believed as not mature or even dev elopmental. However in an effort to actively address the standards issue, the biometric industry has finalized some blueprints and the process of getting industries to accept these standards is ongoing WHY IS STANDARDIZATION NECESSARY? The high rate of biometric development and rapid growth in adoption of biometric technologies in recent years has resulted in ever-increasing levels of what is expected in terms of accuracy, adaptability, and reliability in an ever-wider range of applications. Due to the adoption of biometric technologies in large-scale national and international applications, involving a potentially unlimited range of stakeholders, Farzin Deravi (2008, p. 483) stated that it has become essential to address these expectations by ensuring agreed common frameworks for implementation and evaluation of biometric technologies through standardization activities. Majority of biometric systems, including both the hardware and software are made and sold by the owner of the patent at this stage in their development. They are being proprietary in numerous aspects including the manner in which biometric devices and systems as a whole communicate with applications, the method of extracting features from a biometric sample, and among many more, the method of storing and retrieving biometric data. This resulted in many companies in most cases, being wedded to a particular technology, once they agree to implement that particular technology. Nanavati (2002, p. 278) stated that in order to incorporate a new technology, the companies are required to rebuild their system from scratch upward, and in some cases duplicating much of the deployment effort. Deravi (2008 p. 483) noted that the need for interoperability of biometric systems across national boundaries has implied a rapid escalation of standardization efforts to the international arena, stating that the sense of urgency for the need for standardization has been the priority of internal security concerns. The industry wide or universal adoption of biometric standard will not make biometric technology interoperable at least, to the state where an old device can be replaced by a new device without rebuilding the system. However, Nanavati (2002 p. 278) argued the core algorithms through which vendors locate and extract biometric data are very unlikely to be interoperable or standardized, the reason being that these algorithms represents the basis of most vendors intellectual property. Numerous reasons are responsible for the motivation towards standardization. These include the desire for reducing the overall cost of deploying biometrics technologies and optimize the reliability of biometric systems, to reduce the risk of deploying solutions to biometric problems, to ensure in the area of encryption and file format, that the basic building blocks of biometric data management have been developed based on best practice by industry professionals. Nanavati (2002 p. 278) concluded that standards ensure that, in the future, biometric technology will be developed and deployed in accordance with generally accepted principles of information technology. EXISTING BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Shoniregun and Crosier (2008 p. 22) stated that the evolving interest and developments have made developments of standards a necessity with the sole aim of allowing compatibility of different systems. The detailed standards in the Biometrics Resource Centre (2002) report are summarised below: Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF): The Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF) sets a standard for the data elements essential in supporting biometric technology in a common way irrespective of the application involved or the domain in use. It makes data interchange between systems and their components easier, while promoting interoperability applications, programs as well as systems based on biometrics. INCITS MI-Biometrics Technical Committee: The committee which was established by the Executive Board of the International Committee for Information Technology standards (INCITS) with the responsibility to ensure a focused and reasonably comprehensive approach in the United States for the rapid development and approval of previous national and international generic biometric standards (Shoniregun ad Crosier 2008, p. 22) BioAPI Specification (Version 1.1): The BioAPI standard defines the architecture for biometric systems integration in a single computer system. (Deravi 2008, p. 490). The Bio API specification has been one of the most popular standards efforts since it was formed in April 1998 according to Nanavati (2002, p. 279). Nnavati stated that the standard was formed to develop an API that is both widely accepted and widely available while being compatible with various biometric technologies. Other general standards available are Human Recognition Module (HRS), ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2000, American Association for Motor Vehicle Administration and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which specifies the acceptable security requirements necessary for effective management of biometric data especially for the financial services industry. BRITISH BIOMETRICS STANDARDS The British Standards Institution (BSI) commenced work in June 2004 on biometrics standards and since then, has published according to Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 24) a set of four new BS ISO/IEC 19794 STANDARDS, reported to have covered the science of biometrics, and using biological characteristics in identifying individuals. The objective of publishing these standards is to promote interoperability between the several products in the market. BS ISO/IEC 19784-2:2007: This standard defines the interface to an archive Biometric Function Provider (BFP). The interface assumes that the collected biometrics data will be managed as a database, irrespective of its physical realization. Crosier (2008, p. 24) defined the physical realization as smartcards, token, memory sticks, files on hard drives and any other kind of memory can be handled via an abstraction layer presenting a database interface.) BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006: According to Shoniregun (2008, p. 25), this standard provides recommendations and requirements on collection of data, analysis as well as reporting specific to two types of evaluation (scenario evaluation and technology evaluation). BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006 further specifies the requirements in the development and full description of protocols for scenario and technology evaluations and also, in executing and reporting biometric evaluations. BS ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007: ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies the concepts, framework, test methods and criteria required to test conformity of biometric products claiming conformance to BioAPI (ISO/IEC 19784-1). (www.iso.org). Crosier (2008, p. 25) stated ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies three conformance testing models which allows conformance testing of each of the BioAPI components mainly a framework, an application and a BSP. BS ISO/IEC 24709-2:2007: The standard BS ISO/IEC 247 defines a number of test assertions composed in the assertion language explicitly required in ISO/IEC 24709-1. The assertions allow a user to test the conformance of any biometric server producer (BSP) that claims to be a conforming implementation of that International Standard to ISO/IEC 19784-1 (BioAPI 2.0) (www.iso.org). BIOMETRICS AND PRIVACY The fact that biometric technologies are based on measuring physiological or behavioral and archiving these data has raised concerns on privacy risks, and also raised discussion on the role biometrics play when it comes to privacy. As stated by Nanavati (2002, p. 237), increase in the use of biometric technology in the public sector, workplace and even at home has raised the following questions: What are the main privacy concerns relating to biometric usage? What kinds of biometric deployments need stronger protections to avoid invading privacy? What biometric technologies are more prone to privacy-invasive usage? What kinds of protections are required to ensure biometrics are used in a non privacy-invasive way? Woodward (2003, p. 197) cited President Clintons speech in his commencement address at Morgan State University in 1997: The right to privacy is one of our most cherished freedomsWe must develop new protections for privacy in the face of new technological reality. Recently, Biometrics has been increasingly deployed to improve security and a very important tool to combat terrorism. Privacy issue is central to biometrics and many people believe that deploying biometrics poses a considerable level of risk to human rights, even though some are of the opinion that biometrics actually protect privacy. Human factors influence the success of a biometric-based identification system to a great extent. The ease as well as comfort in interaction with a biometric system contributes to how people accept it. Jain, Ross and Prabhakar (2004 p. 24) stated an example of a biometric system being able to measure the characteristic of a users without touching, such as those using voice, face, or iris, and concluded that it may be perceived to be a more user-friendly and hygienic system by the users. They added that on the other hand, biometric characteristics not requiring user participation or interaction can be recorded without the knowledge of the user, and this is perceived as a threat to human privacy by many individuals. According to Sim (2009, p. 81), biometrics compared to other security technologies has significant impacts on users privacy (Civil Liberties). It can protect privacy when deployed in an appropriate manner; but when misused, it can result in loss of privacy. ADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRIC OVER TRADITIONAL METHODS Password and PINs have been the most frequently used authentication method. Their use involves controlling access to a building or a room, securing access to computers, network, the applications on the personal computers and many more. In some higher security applications, handheld tokens such as key fobs and smart cards have been deployed. Due to some problems related to these methods, the suitability and reliability of these authentication technologies have been questioned especially in this modern world with modern applications. Biometrics offer some benefits compare to these authentication technologies. INCREASED SECURITY Biometric technology can provide a higher degree of security compared to traditional authentication methods. Chirillo (2003 p. 2) stated that biometrics is preferred over traditional methods for many reasons which include the fact that the physical presence of the authorized person is required at the point of identification. This means that only the authorized person has access to the resources. Effort by people to manage several passwords has left many choosing easy or general words, with considerable number writing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics ABSTRACT Organisations have goals and therefore acquire assets to ensure these goals are met and the continuity guaranteed. Financial sector while trying to promote convenient methods such as online banking and use of ATM for their customers to access their money strives to ensure only the right person has access to the account. Also, military and national security services store high sensitive and critical information that must only be accessed by specific individual thereby deploying security measures to keep this tradition. However, achieving these goals largely depends on securing and controlling the assets as documented which means only authorised individuals have access to these environments and eventually the assets. Sequel to the importance of access control, different security techniques have been deployed to safeguard these assets which ranges from PINs and passwords, ID cards, smart card est. Vulnerabilities to these methods have lead to the recent surge in biometrics industry as many believe this is the future. Reasons such that the physical presence of the authorized person is needed at the point of access and also, the fact that it is unique and almost impossible to duplicate emphasis the benefit of biometrics and explain its glooming popularity. However like any other security methods, biometrics has limitations and threats which can impact its effectiveness and efficiency. It is not suitable for every application and can be a very wrong choice for certain applications. Therefore, it is essential to manage these limitations and threats properly to enhance the success factor of biometrics. Finally, it is important for any sector deploying biometrics to understand the various issues associated with biometrics such as privacy, standards and what the law requires of biometrics. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Organizations strive to secure their assets and provide means of controlling access to these assets. This process requires identification and authorization to ensure the right person is accessing the right asset. Over the years, traditional methods of authentication, mainly passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) have been popularly used. Recently, swipe card and PINs have been deployed for more security since one is something you have and the latter something you know. However, these methods still have vulnerabilities as swipe card can be stolen. Also, bad management of passwords has left people writing them on papers and desks or simply choosing easy and general words for quick remembrance which expose the password to intruders. More recently, stronger identification and authorization technologies that can assure a person is who he claims to be are becoming prominent and biometrics can be classified to this category. Biometric technology makes use of a persons physiological or behavioral characteristics in identification. Every human being is unique in nature and possesses physical parts completely different from any other person. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack did not help security concerns as governments and organizations all around the world especially the border security agencies have greatly embraced this human recognition technology. As both private and public entities continue to search for a more reliable identification and authentication methods, biometrics has been the choice and considered the future. WHAT IS BIOMETRICS? Biometrics refers to the automatic identifications of a person based on his or her physiological or behavioral characteristics (Chirillo and Blaul 2003, p. 2). It is an authorization method that verifies or identifies a user based on what they are before authorizing access. The search for a more reliable authorization method to secure assets has lead to the revelation of biometrics and many organizations have shown interest in the technology. Two main types of biometrics have been used mainly physical and behavioral. A physical biometrics is a part of a persons body while, a behavioral biometric is something that a person does (Lockie 2002, p. 8). He added that although there are some more unusual biometrics which may be used in the future, including a persons unique smell, the shape of their ear or even the way they talk, the main biometrics being measured include fingerprints, hand geometry, retina scan, iris scan, facial location or recognition (all physical), voice recognition, signature, keystroke pattern and gait (Behavioral). However, it has been argued by Liu and Silverman (2001) that different applications require different biometrics as there is no supreme or best biometric technology. HISTORY OF BIOMETRICS According to Chirillo and Blaul (2003, p. 3) the term biometrics is derived from the Greek words bio (life) and metric (to measure). China is among the first known to practice biometrics back in the fourteenth century as reported by the Portuguese historian Joao de Barros. It was called member-printing where the childrens palms as well as the footprints were stamped on paper with ink to identify each baby. Alphonse Bertillon, a Paris based anthropologist and police desk clerk was trying to find a way of identifying convicts in the 1890s decided to research on biometrics. He came up with measuring body lengths and was relevant till it was proved to be prone to error as many people shared the same measurement. The police started using fingerprinting developed based on the Chinese methods used century before by Richard Edward Henry, who was working at the Scotland Yard. Raina, Orlans and Woodward (2003, p. 25-26) stated references to biometrics as a concept could be traced back to over a thousand years in East Asia where potters placed their fingerprints on their wares as an early form of brand identity. They also pointed Egypts Nile Valley where traders were formally identified based on physical characteristics such as eye color, complexion and also height. The information were used by merchant to identify trusted traders whom they had successfully transacted business with in the past. Kapil et al also made references to the Bible, first pointing to the faith Gileadites had in their biometric system as reported in The Book of Judges (12:5-6) that the men of Gilead identified enemy in their midst by making suspected Ephraimites say Shibboleth for they could not pronounce it right. The second reference is to The Book of Genesis (27:11-28) where Jacob pretended to be Esau by putting goat skins on his hands and back of his neck so his skin would feel h airy to his blind, aged fathers touch. This illustrates a case of biometric spoofing and false acceptance. They finally wrote Biometrics as a commercial, modern technology has been around since the early 1970s when the first commercially available device was brought to market (p. 26). HOW BIOMETRICS SYSTEMS WORK A biometric system is essentially a pattern-recognition system that makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioral characteristics possessed by the user (Blaul 2003, p.3). Biometrics has so far been developed to work in two ways mainly verification and identification. Verification systems are designed to give answer to the question, Am I who I claim to be? by requiring that a user claim an identity in order for a biometric comparison to be performed. The user provides data, which is then compared to his or her enrolled biometric data. Identification systems gives answer to the question, who am I? and do not require a user to claim an identity as the provided biometric data is compared to data from a number of users to find a match (Nanavati 2002, p. 12). An illustration of a scenario using an identifying biometrics system is given below and thus gives an answer to the question Who am I? In October 1998 in the United Kingdom, Newham Council introduced face recognition software to 12 town centre cameras with the sole purpose of decreasing street robbery. Images are compared against a police database of over 100 convicted street robbers known to be active in the previous 12 weeks. In August 2001, 527,000 separate faces were detected and operators confirmed 90 matches against the database. Where a face is not identified with any in the database, the image is deleted; if a match is found a human operator checks the result. The introduction of face recognition technology to Newham city centre saw a 34% decrease in street robbery. The system has not led directly to any arrests, which suggests that its effect is largely due to the deterrence/displacement of crime. The face recognition system has been widely publicised by the council and 93% of residents support its introduction (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). The case study below illustrates a verifying biometrics system and supply answers to the question Am I who I claim to be? The US Immigration and Naturalization Service Passenger Accelerated Service System (INSPASS) has been introduced at eight airports in order to provide a quick immigration processing for authorised frequent flyers entering the US and Canada. On arrival at an airport, a traveller inserts a card that carries a record of their hand geometry into the INSPASS kiosk and places their hand on a biometric reader. A computer cross-references the information stored on the card at registration with the live hand geometry scan. The complete process takes less than 30 seconds. If the scans match, the traveller can proceed to customs; if not, travellers are referred to an Immigration Inspector. There are more than 45,000 active INSPASS users with, on average, 20,000 automated immigration inspections conducted each month (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). Verifying system is often referred to as a one-to-one process and generally takes less processing time compared to the identifying systems. This is due to the fact that in identifying systems, a user is compared to all users in the database (one-to-many). Verifying systems are also more accurate since they only have to match a users data against his or her stored data and do not need hundreds, thousands or even millions of comparisons like the identifying systems. However, it is important for an organization to decide the type appropriate for the applications. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology designed for this dissertation is mainly the qualitative approach. A quantitative approach has been overlooked due to limited time as designing surveys, distribution take time and response time could not be predicted. Therefore, my effort will be concentrated on critically reviewing previous literatures in order to acquire an overview of, and intakes on the topic. For more details, Journals, Books, Publications, Documentaries and previous dissertations related to the topic will be reviewed, compared and analyzed. The objectives will be achieved by purely reviewing literatures and previous researches and the literatures critically analyzed by comparing information obtained from different sources. Findings, recommendations and conclusions will be made from the analysis. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The aim of this research is to critically analyse biometric security as an emerging and booming industry by examining the positives and negatives and providing ways of improving the method effectively and most importantly efficiently. Since biometrics applies to many applications, access control will be the main focus of this dessertation. Also, issues such as privacy, laws governing biometrics and standards will be examined. The main objectives of this research are; To review biometric security and issues related to it. To evaluate the threats, advantages and disadvantages of biometrics. To propose ways of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of biometrics from previous researches. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is aimed at critically reviewing and analysis of numerous works of researchers in the area of biometrics, threats to biometrics, advantages and disadvantages and ways of improving biometrics efficiency in access control. The effect of privacy (human rights) and the need to conform to biometrics standards will also be examined and reviewed. DEFINITION OF BIOMETRICS According to Jain, Ross and Pankanti (2006, p. 125), one great concern in our vastly interconnected society is establishing identity. Systems need to know Is he who he claims he is, Is she authorized to use this resource? or simply who is this? Therefore, a wide range of systems require reliable personal recognition schemes to either verify or identify of an individual seeking access to their services. The purpose of that scheme is to ensure that the rendered services are accessed by only the authorized and not any intruder or imposer (Ross 2004, p. 1). Biometric recognition, or simply biometrics, refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on their physiological and, or behavioral characteristics (Jain, 2004 p. 1). Woodward (2003, p. 27) cited biometric industry guru Ben Millers 1987 biometric definition: Biometric technologies are automated methods of verifying or recognizing the identity of a living person based on a physical or behavioral characteristic. Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 10) provided several definitions of biometrics which include: Biometrics is the development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in the biological science. Biometrics = identification/verification of persons based on the unique physiological or behavioral features of humans. Biometrics is the measurement and matching of biological characteristics such as fingerprint images, hand geometry, facial recognition, etc. Biometrics is strongly linked to a stored identity to the physical person. Nevertheless the various definitions, it can be seen that the science of biometrics is based on the fact that no two people are the same and this has a significant influence on its reliability and success factor. THE BIOMETRICS INDUSTRY According to Lockie (2002, p. 10), the biometric industry did not really get established until the middle of the twentieth century. The researchers at that particular time were investigating whether various human parts and characteristics, such as the iris or the voice, could be used to identify an individual. This was made public by publishing papers and as a considerable number of these strands of research began to form a piece, the biometrics industry as we know it these days was established. As organization search for more secure authentication methods for user access, e-commerce, and other security applications, biometrics is gaining increasing attention (Liu 2001, p.27). Higgins, Orlan and Woodward (2003, p. xxiii ), emphasized that even though biometrics have not become an essential part of all systems requiring controlled access, the emerging industry has come a long way from its modern founding in 1972 with the installation of a commercial finger measurement device on Wall Street. He made reference to the highly respected MIT Technology Review called biometrics one of the top ten emerging technologies that will change the world. The growth in biometric industries is reflected in the numbers. The trio cited Rick Noton, the executive director of the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA), who reported in the Biometrics 2002 Conference in London, United Kingdom, that the industrys trade association has indicated the surge in biometric revenues over recent years. From $20 million in 1996, it has increased to $200 million in 2001 and Norton believes they will increase as the years pass on significantly in 5 years time. Also, a forecast made by the International Biometric Group (IBG), which is a biometric consulting and integration firm located in New York City, estimate that biometric revenues totaled $399 million in 2000 and will increase to $1.9 billion by 2005. Both IBIA and IBG believe that the private sector will be responsible for much of the growth. These give evidence of the relevance of biometrics in organizations in modern times. BIOMETRICS AND ACCESS CONTROL Over the years, biometrics has evolved rapidly and many vertical markets such as governments, transport, financial sectors, security, public justice and safety, healthcare and many more have adopted biometrics. Due to this wide range of users, biometrics has been deployed to many applications. Biometrics has been of high benefit to organization as they seek a reliable security method to safeguard assets. Fully understanding how biometrics work, it can be said that the ultimate aim of applying biometrics in the vertical markets listed above is to control access to a resource irrespective of the system used whether a verifying or an identifying process It has been stated by S. Nanavati, Thieme and R. Nanavati (2002, p. 14), that biometric systems are deployed for two primary purposes which are physical and logical access. LOGICAL VERSUS PHYSICAL ACCESS Physical access systems monitors, restricts, or grant movement of a person or object into or out of a specific area (Thieme 2002, p. 14). This could be implemented to control entry into rooms or even the main building. Popular examples are control towers, bank vaults, server rooms and many other sensitive rooms requiring controlled access. In physical access, biometrics replaces the use of keys, PIN codes access cards and security guards although any of these could be combined with biometrics as a complementation. Common physical access application is time and attendance. Thieme also gave a definition of logical access systems as one that monitor, restrict or grant access to data or information listing examples such as logging into a PC, accessing data stored on a network, accessing an account, or authenticating a transaction. In this case, biometrics replaces and can be designed to complement PINs, passwords and also tokens. Basic biometric functionality precisely acquiring and comparing of biometric data is often identical in both physical and logical systems. For example, the same iris scan data can be used for both doorway and desktop applications. Thieme explained that the only difference between the two is the external system into which the biometric functionality is integrated. The biometric functionality is integrated into a larger system. This applies for both physical and logical access system and actions such as access to any desktop application or access to a room via a doorway are effected by a biometric match. However, not every system can be classified as physical or logical access as the end result does not indicate access to data or a physical location and the result therefore may be to investigate more. An ATM secured by biometrics allows access to money, a physical entity. This is made possible by allowing the user logical access to his or her data. In the example above, the application is even difficult to classify as either physical or logical. Thieme (2002, p. 15) suggested that the distinction between physical and logical access systems is a valuable tool in understanding biometric. He noted that key criteria such accuracy, fallback procedures, privacy requirements, costs, response time and complexity of integration all vary effectively when moving from logical to physical access. WHAT ARE BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Stapleton (2003, p. 167) defined a standard in a general term as a published document, developed by a recognized authority, which defines a set of policies and practices, technical or security requirements, techniques or mechanisms, or describes some other abstract concept or model. The growth of the biometric industry has been relatively slowed by the absence of industry wide standards and this has also impeded various types of biometric deployment. Nanavati (2002, p. 277) stated that the relative youth of the technology in use, coupled with the disunified nature of the industry, has impacted the developments of standards resulting in a sporadic and frequently redundant standards. Nanavati also noted that the live-scan fingerprint imaging is the only segment of biometric industry with widely accepted and adopted standards. Due to this absence of biometric standards, some institutions have been concerned of being tied into technologies they actually believed as not mature or even dev elopmental. However in an effort to actively address the standards issue, the biometric industry has finalized some blueprints and the process of getting industries to accept these standards is ongoing WHY IS STANDARDIZATION NECESSARY? The high rate of biometric development and rapid growth in adoption of biometric technologies in recent years has resulted in ever-increasing levels of what is expected in terms of accuracy, adaptability, and reliability in an ever-wider range of applications. Due to the adoption of biometric technologies in large-scale national and international applications, involving a potentially unlimited range of stakeholders, Farzin Deravi (2008, p. 483) stated that it has become essential to address these expectations by ensuring agreed common frameworks for implementation and evaluation of biometric technologies through standardization activities. Majority of biometric systems, including both the hardware and software are made and sold by the owner of the patent at this stage in their development. They are being proprietary in numerous aspects including the manner in which biometric devices and systems as a whole communicate with applications, the method of extracting features from a biometric sample, and among many more, the method of storing and retrieving biometric data. This resulted in many companies in most cases, being wedded to a particular technology, once they agree to implement that particular technology. Nanavati (2002, p. 278) stated that in order to incorporate a new technology, the companies are required to rebuild their system from scratch upward, and in some cases duplicating much of the deployment effort. Deravi (2008 p. 483) noted that the need for interoperability of biometric systems across national boundaries has implied a rapid escalation of standardization efforts to the international arena, stating that the sense of urgency for the need for standardization has been the priority of internal security concerns. The industry wide or universal adoption of biometric standard will not make biometric technology interoperable at least, to the state where an old device can be replaced by a new device without rebuilding the system. However, Nanavati (2002 p. 278) argued the core algorithms through which vendors locate and extract biometric data are very unlikely to be interoperable or standardized, the reason being that these algorithms represents the basis of most vendors intellectual property. Numerous reasons are responsible for the motivation towards standardization. These include the desire for reducing the overall cost of deploying biometrics technologies and optimize the reliability of biometric systems, to reduce the risk of deploying solutions to biometric problems, to ensure in the area of encryption and file format, that the basic building blocks of biometric data management have been developed based on best practice by industry professionals. Nanavati (2002 p. 278) concluded that standards ensure that, in the future, biometric technology will be developed and deployed in accordance with generally accepted principles of information technology. EXISTING BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Shoniregun and Crosier (2008 p. 22) stated that the evolving interest and developments have made developments of standards a necessity with the sole aim of allowing compatibility of different systems. The detailed standards in the Biometrics Resource Centre (2002) report are summarised below: Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF): The Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF) sets a standard for the data elements essential in supporting biometric technology in a common way irrespective of the application involved or the domain in use. It makes data interchange between systems and their components easier, while promoting interoperability applications, programs as well as systems based on biometrics. INCITS MI-Biometrics Technical Committee: The committee which was established by the Executive Board of the International Committee for Information Technology standards (INCITS) with the responsibility to ensure a focused and reasonably comprehensive approach in the United States for the rapid development and approval of previous national and international generic biometric standards (Shoniregun ad Crosier 2008, p. 22) BioAPI Specification (Version 1.1): The BioAPI standard defines the architecture for biometric systems integration in a single computer system. (Deravi 2008, p. 490). The Bio API specification has been one of the most popular standards efforts since it was formed in April 1998 according to Nanavati (2002, p. 279). Nnavati stated that the standard was formed to develop an API that is both widely accepted and widely available while being compatible with various biometric technologies. Other general standards available are Human Recognition Module (HRS), ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2000, American Association for Motor Vehicle Administration and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which specifies the acceptable security requirements necessary for effective management of biometric data especially for the financial services industry. BRITISH BIOMETRICS STANDARDS The British Standards Institution (BSI) commenced work in June 2004 on biometrics standards and since then, has published according to Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 24) a set of four new BS ISO/IEC 19794 STANDARDS, reported to have covered the science of biometrics, and using biological characteristics in identifying individuals. The objective of publishing these standards is to promote interoperability between the several products in the market. BS ISO/IEC 19784-2:2007: This standard defines the interface to an archive Biometric Function Provider (BFP). The interface assumes that the collected biometrics data will be managed as a database, irrespective of its physical realization. Crosier (2008, p. 24) defined the physical realization as smartcards, token, memory sticks, files on hard drives and any other kind of memory can be handled via an abstraction layer presenting a database interface.) BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006: According to Shoniregun (2008, p. 25), this standard provides recommendations and requirements on collection of data, analysis as well as reporting specific to two types of evaluation (scenario evaluation and technology evaluation). BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006 further specifies the requirements in the development and full description of protocols for scenario and technology evaluations and also, in executing and reporting biometric evaluations. BS ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007: ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies the concepts, framework, test methods and criteria required to test conformity of biometric products claiming conformance to BioAPI (ISO/IEC 19784-1). (www.iso.org). Crosier (2008, p. 25) stated ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies three conformance testing models which allows conformance testing of each of the BioAPI components mainly a framework, an application and a BSP. BS ISO/IEC 24709-2:2007: The standard BS ISO/IEC 247 defines a number of test assertions composed in the assertion language explicitly required in ISO/IEC 24709-1. The assertions allow a user to test the conformance of any biometric server producer (BSP) that claims to be a conforming implementation of that International Standard to ISO/IEC 19784-1 (BioAPI 2.0) (www.iso.org). BIOMETRICS AND PRIVACY The fact that biometric technologies are based on measuring physiological or behavioral and archiving these data has raised concerns on privacy risks, and also raised discussion on the role biometrics play when it comes to privacy. As stated by Nanavati (2002, p. 237), increase in the use of biometric technology in the public sector, workplace and even at home has raised the following questions: What are the main privacy concerns relating to biometric usage? What kinds of biometric deployments need stronger protections to avoid invading privacy? What biometric technologies are more prone to privacy-invasive usage? What kinds of protections are required to ensure biometrics are used in a non privacy-invasive way? Woodward (2003, p. 197) cited President Clintons speech in his commencement address at Morgan State University in 1997: The right to privacy is one of our most cherished freedomsWe must develop new protections for privacy in the face of new technological reality. Recently, Biometrics has been increasingly deployed to improve security and a very important tool to combat terrorism. Privacy issue is central to biometrics and many people believe that deploying biometrics poses a considerable level of risk to human rights, even though some are of the opinion that biometrics actually protect privacy. Human factors influence the success of a biometric-based identification system to a great extent. The ease as well as comfort in interaction with a biometric system contributes to how people accept it. Jain, Ross and Prabhakar (2004 p. 24) stated an example of a biometric system being able to measure the characteristic of a users without touching, such as those using voice, face, or iris, and concluded that it may be perceived to be a more user-friendly and hygienic system by the users. They added that on the other hand, biometric characteristics not requiring user participation or interaction can be recorded without the knowledge of the user, and this is perceived as a threat to human privacy by many individuals. According to Sim (2009, p. 81), biometrics compared to other security technologies has significant impacts on users privacy (Civil Liberties). It can protect privacy when deployed in an appropriate manner; but when misused, it can result in loss of privacy. ADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRIC OVER TRADITIONAL METHODS Password and PINs have been the most frequently used authentication method. Their use involves controlling access to a building or a room, securing access to computers, network, the applications on the personal computers and many more. In some higher security applications, handheld tokens such as key fobs and smart cards have been deployed. Due to some problems related to these methods, the suitability and reliability of these authentication technologies have been questioned especially in this modern world with modern applications. Biometrics offer some benefits compare to these authentication technologies. INCREASED SECURITY Biometric technology can provide a higher degree of security compared to traditional authentication methods. Chirillo (2003 p. 2) stated that biometrics is preferred over traditional methods for many reasons which include the fact that the physical presence of the authorized person is required at the point of identification. This means that only the authorized person has access to the resources. Effort by people to manage several passwords has left many choosing easy or general words, with considerable number writing the