Don’t overdo biometrics, expert warns

Biometric data such as fingerprint scans is being collected too widely and too casually, according to security company Protegrity USA.“Today, many of the major banks are using biometrics to log into your accounts on your mobile devices,” said Protegrity CEO Suni Munshani.As biometric access replaces passwords it adds convenience for users. But many companies are deploying the technology too casually, he said.

“Biometrics should be used in a far more cautious manner,” he said.

According to Gartner, 40 percent of smartphones will have biometric sensors by 2016.

Meanwhile, FireEye researchers Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang demonstrated the ability to harvest fingerprints on a large scale from some mobile devices at the Black Hat conference this summer.

Read full article at CSO magazine.

Article also reprinted in Computerworld.