Biometric liveness follows growth trajectory of AI threats

Biometrics and liveness detection are the bulwark against a tide of fraud, including sophisticated attacks using generative AI, in many of the top stories of the week on Biometric Update. Jumio is introducing a comprehensive in-house liveness detection feature, while IDology is among a chorus enumerating a growing problem with synthetic ID and deepfakes, but also suggesting that effective defenses are available. For brick-and-mortar loss reduction, Corsight has a video analytics tool to address an insider fraud threat.

Top biometrics news of the week

The UK’s Office for Digital Identities and Attributes has gone from interim to official as the oversight and certification body for the DIATF. The OfDIA has been regulating digital ID in the country since 2022, originally under DMCS and now under DSIT, a role that will grow significantly if the government passes its Digital Information and Smart Data Bill and Data Use and Access Bill become law.

A new national payments policy strategy announced by Ireland emphasizes the importance of choice, which means protecting the use of cash but also encouraging the use of digital identity and the EUDI Wallet. The strategy’s four pillars are inclusivity, from cash to digital, stronger digital ID frameworks and authentication, market-driven innovation and increased collection and analysis of data.

Malaysia’s government believes it can complete the introduction of support for the national digital ID by all public services as a single sign-on credential near the beginning of 2025. The government plans to build up public confidence in MyDigital ID to encourage its use, as part of its broader digital transformation agenda.

Representatives of Trinsic and Mitek discussed mobile driver’s license adoption and demonstrated an implementation of a California mDL for onboarding to an online car rental platform in a recent webinar. The full slate of seven winners from the recent use case competition held by the California DMV and OpenID was also announced.

Norway has signaled its plan to procure at least 21 biometric automatic border control gates as it upgrades technology at Oslo Airport Gardermoen. Federal authorities have set aside $4.6 million, and plan to tender the contract for hardware, software, support and maintenance next year.

A PoC for an international flight with passengers using biometrics and different digital wallets and verifiable credentials for a round trip between Hong Kong and Tokyo was successful, IATA says. The project aligned with IATA’s One ID standards, and included FacePhi and NEC, along with other partners.

Jumio no longer relies on third-party liveness detection, after announcing a new in-house capability. The company developed a solution combining presentation attack detection (PAD), bypass detection, coercion detection and other features to defend against injection attacks and other sophisticated fraud vectors. Jumio’s Liveness is made all the more effective by its guided capture technology, the company says.

A new report from a cybersecurity think tank warns that improving AI capabilities could defeat biometric authentication systems, and says deepfakes have already been used to do so. The report does not address the role of liveness detection, but a recent white paper suggests how some signals of liveness can already be spoofed.

Nearly half of fintechs have seen an increase in synthetic identity fraud, according to a report from IDology, as GenAI lowers the bar. Industry consortium FS-ISAC attempts to define the problem deepfakes pose to the financial industry, as leaders from Softbank, Mastercard and Anthropic suggest that the problem is getting worse.

Retailers are turning to facial recognition to combat theft and fraud in growing numbers, including 15 of America’s top 50 grocery chains, says an SIA report. Stores in New York are pushing back against legislation that would limit their use of face biometrics. For those deploying video security software, Corsight explains its new module to detect a tricky form of retail fraud known as “sweethearting.”

The New York Yankees banned a pair of fans from Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers after one grabbed a player and the other made contact with him while interfering with the play. They used with an unspecified capability to identify excluded people to enforce the ban, The Athletic reports, suggesting the club may have facial recognition deployed for identification, in addition to facial authentication for park entry through Clear.

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Article Topics

biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  week in review