Selfies to Provide Strictest Level Authentication

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Cybercrime will become one of the greatest threats of our time, and this is particularly true for banks and insurers, who will increasingly look to biometric authentication as a tool to combat social engineering attacks (e.g. phishing) and fraud.

A new cloud-based biometric cyber security solution that will enable financial businesses to better secure themselves and their customers against cyber fraud has been revealed recently. The technology was developed to address the growing threat of insurance identity fraud, which grew from 20 in mid-2016 to over 2,000 by mid-2017 in the UK, according to the Cifas fraud prevention agency.

The new technology developed by SmilePass uses selfies to verify a customer’s identity via easy to use apps. SmileCheck has been designed for checking a customer’s location or presence with geo-tracking, while SmileSafe is the mid-level option for mid-level security applications such as ID verification, financial transaction approvals and insurance claims. SmileSafe+ is the top-tier option, which offers the same anti-spoofing technology and deep learning biometrics implemented in passport registrations, providing a stricter security fence.

All three technologies work on the basis of using selfies for authentication. When user snap a photo of themselves, it’s matched to the facial features on file, using deep-learning and face-matching technology combined with tokenized verification and server-based security validation. Tokenization is the process of substituting a sensitive data element with a non-sensitive equivalent, referred to as a token,

The verification is provided as a service to businesses, so the customers can create unique and secure biometric profiles for each of their clients at the beginning of their relationship. Any future transactions or events that contain risk can be easily verified against this profile, according to the company’s website.