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TECH TALK
BEYONDTRUST EXPERT ON
WHY BIOMETRIC DATA POSES
UNIQUE SECURITY RISK
Morey Haber, CTO at BeyondTrust, explores the
potential security risks associated with biometric
data and provides some basic recommendations
that consumers should consider before handing over
biometric data to organisations.
W
e live in sensitive times. One
‘sensitive’, under-discussed
topic that we need to directly
confront and have an open conversation
about is around the sensitivity of data. Yes,
that’s right, what do people today consider
‘sensitive’ data?
The definition of Personally Identifiable
Information (PII) often includes your
name, email addresses, usernames,
passwords, birthdate, address, social
security number, credit card information,
medical history, etc.
I would stipulate that most people can agree
that these are all sensitive data sets.
www.intelligentcio.com
But there is an entire classification of
sensitive data in the world that we do not
discuss and is going to be a problem in the
very near future. The sensitive data we are
failing to adequately address is the linkage
of our physical, carbon-based human bodies
to all the biometric data being stored by IoT
devices and services in the cloud.
If you think this sounds far-fetched, ask
yourself if you or any of your loved ones
participated in an ancestry DNA kit or
received a new notebook, mobile device, or
smartwatch that stores health or login data
via fingerprints or facial recognition PII. I am
willing to bet that either you, or someone
close to you, has.
“
THE BIGGEST
PROBLEM WITH
BIOMETRIC
DATA IS NOT THE
STORAGE OR
AUTHENTICATION
TECHNOLOGY
USED, RATHER
IT IS THE STATIC
NATURE OF
BIOMETRIC
DATA ITSELF.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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