With the rise of credential stuffing and account takeovers keeping security professionals up at night, many pundits believe that biometric authentication is their answer.

But as any security veteran will tell you, there’s never a simple solution. While biometrics do offer a stronger form of authentication than usernames and passwords, they come with their own risks. Several recent breaches and hacks by researchers exemplify the cracks that can show at the seams of any security model that relies too heavily on biometrics.

Ericka Chickowski specializes in coverage of information technology and business innovation. She has focused on information security for the better part of a decade and regularly writes about the security industry as a contributor to Dark Reading.  View Full Bio

Stolen fingerprints, fake hands, voice synthetization, and other nefarious techniques show biometrics has plenty of challenges.

Image Source: Adobe Stock (Sergey Nivens)

With the rise of credential stuffing and account takeovers keeping security professionals up at night, many pundits believe that biometric authentication is their answer.

But as any security veteran will tell you, there’s never a simple solution. While biometrics do offer a stronger form of authentication than usernames and passwords, they come with their own risks. Several recent breaches and hacks by researchers exemplify the cracks that can show at the seams of any security model that relies too heavily on biometrics.

 

Ericka Chickowski specializes in coverage of information technology and business innovation. She has focused on information security for the better part of a decade and regularly writes about the security industry as a contributor to Dark Reading.  View Full Bio