In addition to even more sophisticated smartphones and tablets and improved wearable gadgets, biometric applications were one of the protagonists last week at Mobile World Congress (MWC).
The MWC, which takes place every year in Barcelona and is the world's largest event with theme τις τηλεπικοινωνίες, έδειξε φέτος πως μία από τις κυρίαρχες νέες τάσεις είναι λύσεις που αξιοποιούν τα βιομετρικά δεδομένα σαν ηλεκτρονικά «κλειδιά».
So, from her stands reportς που γίνεται στο πλαίσιο της διοργάνωσης, «παρέλασαν» αρκετές τεχνολογίες που αναγνωρίζουν την ταυτότητα του χρήστη από τα μάτια, το δακτυλικό αποτύπωμα ή τη φωνή του. Τέτοια συστήματα προορίζονται για τους ολοένα περισσότερους ανθρώπους σε όλο τον κόσμο που πραγματοποιούν online αγορές ή διακινούν μέσω Ιντερνετ ευαίσθητα δεδομένα, τη στιγμή που τα password συχνά δεν αρκούν για να τους προστατεύσουν αποτελεσματικά, ενώ είναι πλέον τόσο πολλά που είναι δύσκολο να τα θυμάται κανείς. Γι’ αυτό και οι εφαρμογές αυτές στοχεύουν να προσφέρουν επιπλέον ασφάλεια ή ακόμη και να κατsloware the codes completely, replacing them with some biological characteristic.
Οπως είναι φυσικό, με τις εναλλακτικές λύσεις με τις οποίες ένας χρήστης θα μπορεί να επιβεβαιώσει την ταυτότητά του δεν ασχολούνται μόνο οι εταιρείες που αναπτύσσουν hardware και software, αλλά και τα χρηματοπιστωτικά ιδρύματα τα οποία δραστηριοποιούνται στο ηλεκτρονικό εμπόριο, όπως η Visa. «Η προσωπική μου άποψη είναι πως οι κωδικοί δεν πρόκειται να αποσυρθούν εντελώς από το προσκήνιο, σίγουρα όμως θα περιορισθεί ο ρόλος τους», σημειώνει ο Jonathan Vaux, εκτελεστικός διευθυντής της Visa Europe, speaking to "K" in his margin MWC. "So, although biometric applications are not the only option, it is one of the best ways to authenticate, since it combines security with ease and speed," he notes.
Indeed, these technologies are more appealing to young people, according to a recent Visa survey in Britain, in people aged 16-24 years. Of the participants, 76% replied that they would trust a biometric application for their online transactions.
For this purpose, most of them gave a "vote of confidence" to the fingerprints, followed by the "scanning" of the eye. "What the research has shown is that thanks to the familiarity of younger generations with technology, such choices are very popular," adds the Visa executive.
These options were enriched in MWC from Qualcomm, which introduced a new fingerprint sensor for "smart" devices, which works even with wet or. dirty fingers. At the same time, Fujitsu showed an original smartphone with a special camera that works with infrared rays and "reads" the iris of the eye even if the user wears glasses.
Many biometric applications follow the standards of the FIDO Alliance, a consortium involving Visa, along with banking institutions and technology giants such as Microsoft and Google. FIDO Alliance develops open specifications that are available for any manufacturer developing a biometric component, while allowing every Internet service or software to easily support all of these sensors. "The logic of the open platform I think is the most effective way to find these technologies widely accepted," Vaux adds.
However, according to the Visa executive, in addition to biometric systems, other technologies will make identifying easier in the future. "For example, geographic positioning will play a significant role in enabling the user to determine how to conduct online transactions eg. only from his home or office, "he concludes.
MWC: Digital wallet
According to the executive director from Visa Europe Jonathan Vaux, several technologies that have been developed in recent years are now paving the way for more and more consumers to start using their "smart" mobile as a "digital wallet". “For example, a major obstacle that existed until recently was the fact that one could not easily control how much money has available at all times, as it does in the conventional wallet by counting the notes. However, the applications that have been created in recent times give the same sense of control to those who use them,” he points out.
The predominant trend is for the smartphone to function essentially like a terminal, from which the user acquires over the Internet access to an "intangible window" in the cloud, where it stores digitally all its debit and credit cards. "This rationale has several advantages, as in the case of loss or theft of the actual card, where the digital copy of the new credit will be ready to be used in a few minutes. It also responds to the fact that several people already use more than one device to access the Internet, from which they may sometime want to make an online purchase, "he adds.
Source: kathimerini.gr
