Biolab - Evaluation of biometric verification systems

Current situation

For many years biometric systems have been an essential method of user authentication due to their ease of use and reliability. Due to increasing digitization and automation in authentication processes, biometric systems are becoming more and more important. They are now an integral part of both consumer applications (for example smartphones) and government applications (for example border control systems). However, the growing importance of biometric systems also increases the demands on reliability and security. In order to ensure effective use and thus contribute to the protection of civil society, the continuous evaluation of biometric systems in the future is of crucial importance.

Objectives

The objectives of the Biolab project are to evaluate biometric systems, to develop evaluation methodologies and tools, to develop new biometric security technologies, and to conduct training and workshops. Three criteria of biometric systems will be investigated during the evaluation:

1. Biometric performance

For this purpose, practical functional tests will be carried out with a large number of test subjects, which should show the greatest possible diversity.

2. Vulnerabilities

Here, verification systems are exposed to different attack variants to test their effectiveness. The goal is to test how well a system detects fake biometric features presented to it. Camera systems, for example, can be tested by checking whether the system recognizes when masks are presented to it instead of real faces.

3. Usability

The correct use of the biometric systems is also tested within the framework of extensive test person studies.