Beyond Facial Recognition: Growing Applications of Biometrics in Government

Biometrics are more than facial recognition. Biometrics include all types of biological markers that can be used for identification. Fingerprints pre-date the use of facial recognition and today the practice continues to evolve to use other biological data for a wide variety of use cases.

Tapping into wearable data for first responder safety

The Department of Homeland Security recently funded several startups that have developed innovative monitoring technologies that can be used to protect the health, safety and mental well being of police officers, firefighters, and other emergency responders. These solutions include: Continue reading

Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2022: See Yourself in Cyber

Since 2004, The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) have led a collaborative effort (at the direction of the President and Congress) to raise cybersecurity awareness nationally and internationally. Marking October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, individuals and organizations are given the tools to ramp up their cybersecurity education efforts. The theme for 2022 is "See Yourself in Cyber," putting the people aspect of cybersecurity front and center.

This focus on people is two-fold. First, there is the individual and personal responsibility each of us has to understand good cyber hygiene and conduct ourselves online in a way that protects the networks we depend on. Second, there remains a huge gap in the number of cybersecurity professionals and the number of roles that need filled. The "See Yourself in Cyber" theme invites more people to see their roles and skills in a cyber light, creating a bridge across the cybersecurity skills gap. Continue reading

Facing the Future of Biometrics

With many of us using our faces to "open" our phones, biometric technology has become an everyday consumer technology. Capitalizing on the comfort and ease of use of facial recognition, government agencies are looking to incorporate it (and other biometric methods) into their modern cybersecurity plans and approaches but are realizing implementation in a government setting raises a host of complications.

Interest in facial recognition is strong

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in August of 2021 that detailed current and planned use of facial recognition technology by federal agencies. In a survey of 24 departments and agencies it found that 18 reported using the technology and 10 reported plans to expand their use of it. Continue reading