Why Facial Recognition is the Future to Cybersecurity

What is Facial Recognition?

Facial recognition is a technology that can verify a person’s identity based on the collection of digital images he/she has stored in a database. The tool examines a person’s face and matches it against the images in the DB (database) for that person.

Facial recognition technology works through pattern recognition, and computers are trained to “see” patterns using machine learning (ML).

Pretty neat right? However, there’s a large debate on whether it’s good or not. For one, people are concerned over its privacy implications. One can never be truly private when there are cameras everywhere ready to identify you from a crowd.

This can certainly be helpful for preventing crime but there’ll always be that nagging feeling that you’re being watched 24/7. This is definitely the stuff of the books but most people who are worried about facial recognition lack knowledge about the technology and the regulations that exist for it.

As more apps use this system, governing bodies are also coming up with legislations that protect private individuals and prevent corporations from abusing it. 

Facial recognition, when used the right way, can be a powerful tool that protects us in real life and the online world. Here are more reasons why facial recognition is the future to cybersecurity. 

5 Benefits of Facial Recognition Technology

#1 It’s Convenient

It’s natural for humans to go for the option that causes the least resistance. That’s true for technology too. We’ll always opt for the easiest option. So instead of typing a long password that we have a hard time remembering, we’re going to want to use our face instead, and it only takes a few seconds. 

This is already happening with most of our smartphones where you can enable facial recognition when unlocking your phone. To prevent hacking, certain phone models have a liveness test that requires the user to blink ensuring it’s the right person holding the phone. 

#2 It’s Hack-Proof

It’s hard to hack facial recognition technology (FRT). Unlike passwords where the hacker just has to leak malware into a device and steal hundreds of passwords all at once, facial recognition requires more work. And most times, it’s not really worth it since hackers can hack one person at a time. 

Take for example this experiment done by Wired when they tried to break into the iPhone X’s facial recognition system. They employed prosthetic experts and the best hackers to break into the facial ID feature but failed. 

#3 Facial Recognition is Smart

Most facial recognition technology that exists today doesn’t just memorize your face. It’s smarter than that. It can read your face under different lighting whether it’s day or night time. It can even learn the changes in your face over time. 

Some developers have already used machine learning to analyze your facial expressions and identify whether you really want to unlock your phone or you’re being held at gunpoint by criminals who want to steal your information.

#4 It Integrates Easily

It doesn’t cost much to integrate FRT with your existing system. If you’re already using biometrics as identification, it won’t be that hard to add face ID into your security software. It’s incredibly accurate and is independent from human touch in order to verify. 

#5 It Can be Automated

As mentioned, facial recognition only requires a database of a person’s images to identify and verify them. Compare this to a human security person who needs to manually verify a person; in some cases, they might even be inaccurate. 

With this technology, you don’t need humans monitoring the cameras 24/7. Facial recognition will do that for you!

What are your thoughts about facial recognition? Are you for it or against it? Share your thoughts in the comments!