Idiap receives accreditation to grant biometrics certificates for Android

Idiap’s Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing has received accreditation to conduct the evaluation required by Android for biometric certificates.

The news confirms Idiap’s competence in judging the biometric features of apps to the standards set for Android certification, and comes after the Center received FIDO benchmark accreditation in 2019.

Given the increasing mobile applications of biometrics systems, Android has set up its own certification standards, to enhance the security and trustworthiness of apps using this technology.

In 2019, Google introduced FIDO2 standards, W3C WebAuthn and FIDO CTAP, to enhance security and allow users to log in via biometrics, including fingerprint authentication.

To be compatible with Android, device implementations must meet the requirements presented in the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD).

The Android 10 CDD is the latest version, and, among other things, evaluates the security of a biometric implementation based on architectural security and spoofability.

To control apps’ level of security, their biometric features must be audited following a commonly accepted standard. The trust of the audit lies in the fact the firm conducting the evaluation is a third-party company.

The Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing, which has now received this accreditation, is part of the Idiap Research Institute, a giant in artificial and cognitive intelligence.

Idiap has in the past pioneered a number of biometrics innovations, including the development of contactless vein biometric scanners for hospitals.

The Institute is also currently looking for a researcher to join its ‘deep face detection and attribution’ research team.

Article Topics

Android  |  biometrics  |  biometrics research  |  certification  |  Idiap  |  mobile app  |  standards  |  Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing