Biometric Verification: The Body As Password

Abstract

[evdate 1998-10-17] For immediate release 13 October 1998

BIOMETRIC VERIFICATION: THE BODY AS PASSWORD

Imagine being able to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine without having to remember a personal identification number, or opening your front door without having to fumble for the right key, or accessing a computer network without entering a password.

All of these are possible with biometric verification techniques that require only the physical presence of a human user to verify his or her identity.

As Dr D. Y. Yeung, a computer scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, will explain in a Popular Science Lecture on Saturday, 17 October, biometric verification methods are based on one or more physical attributes of a person, including fingerprint, voice, signature, hand shape, iris, retina and so on.

In his presentation, Dr Yeung will describe and evaluate a number of biometric methods and their application to real-world situations such as access control, immigration checks, personnel management, and financial transactions.

These methods are considered to be more secure than traditional ones involving PINs or passwords because biometric data cannot be lost or stolen, and are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fake or copy.

Dr Yeung's research is mostly related to artificial intelligence尃n particular, the development of AI systems that have pattern recognition and learning capabilities. Recently, he has begun to incorporate biometric verification techniques in smart cards to achieve highly reliable user authentication.

He earned his bachelor and master掇 degrees at the University of Hong Kong and received his PhD in computer science from the University of Southern California. After teaching at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he joined HKUST掇 Computer Science Department in 1990.

The Popular Science Lecture Series is jointly presented by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Hong Kong Science Museum.

Event:"Biometric Verification: The Body as Password" Popular Science Lecture Series Venue:Science Museum Lecture Hall Science Museum Road, Tsimshatsui East Date & time:Saturday, 17 October 1998, 3{????}:30 pm Speaker:Dr D. Y. Yeung, Dept of Computer Science Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Language:Cantonese

Note to Editors: Please direct enquiries to Mr Bosco Wong of the Public Affairs Office at 2358-6307 or email pamedia@ust.hk.