The Weekly Cypher is specially curated to keep you up-to-date on the latest in cybersecurity, biometrics, and related news and innovations. Here are a few of the headlines you might have missed this week:
Race and Facial Recognition | WIRED
The potential role of race in facial recognition software has been hotly contested. However, researchers in the UK and China have found that including race in the software’s algorithm allows it to create more accurate 3-D models of a person’s head than if that factor is absent. Adding social categories to the algorithm (such as race and age) make these models truer to life, but is that enough of a reason to include them? [Read More]
“Voice Recognition” Doesn’t Live Up to Its Name | Computing.co.uk
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have said that voice recognition is too easily fooled to be used as a viable authentication method. Researchers had 60 speakers attempt to fool a voice recognition system by modifying their own voices. An overwhelming number of them were able to do so, highlighting the fact that the technology still has a long way to go. [Read More]
Sweat Means Security | ABC News
Sweaty hands may not be so bad after all. The University of Albany’s Dr. Jan Halámek and his team are researching how sweat can be used for biometric authentication with electronic devices. Halámek’s approach involves a monitoring process for the device to get to know its owner, which he believes will make it more secure. [Read More]
Aadhaar Authentication Struggles | Scroll.in
The Aadhaar authentication project in India is an ambitious project that was meant to connect every Indian citizen’s identity to their biometrics and a 12-digit number. For the past couple of years, residents in rural India have been having problems authenticating their information due to connectivity issues. Now urban citizens are also having issues with authentication just as Aadhaar is being integrated into more facets of everyday life. [Read More]
Smile, You’re (Always) On Camera | Global News
China has officially created the world’s largest video surveillance network. The world’s most populous country now has tens of millions of cameras watching its citizens. More importantly, those cameras have facial recognition capabilities that will be able to verify people’s basic information at a glance. [Read More]
