Many people are afraid of flying but think nothing of taking a long road trip. The fear often seems irrational, given that statistically, flying is much safer. According to NOVA, your chance of being in a fatal car accident is about 1 in 5,000, but the odds of dying in a plane crash are only 1 in 11 million. In fact, air travel is 2,200 times safer than traveling by car. Despite this, many people still have a greater fear of flying than driving. It’s understandable to feel anxious during turbulence or in unfamiliar flying conditions, but when you look at the numbers, the fear doesn’t match the reality.
This same type of misconception is present when it comes to biometric authentication and passwords. While biometrics, like facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, aren’t foolproof, they are far more secure than traditional password-based systems. The fear that biometrics can be easily compromised—similar to the fear of flying—often doesn’t match up with the actual security they provide. FIDO2-based biometric authentication, in particular, offers a level of protection that is difficult to achieve with passwords alone.
Let’s take a moment to debunk some myths and examine why concerns around biometric authentication—much like the fear of flying—are often exaggerated. One of the major concerns is that biometric data, once stolen, could be used forever. While it’s true that biometric systems are not infallible, they offer far superior protection compared to passwords, which can be easily guessed or stolen. Additionally, biometric data is often stored in a way that makes it far harder to exploit if it were to be compromised.
To better understand the role of biometrics in authentication, it’s important to distinguish between a few key concepts. Biometric identification seeks to answer the question, “Who are you?” by comparing your biometric data to a stored database. Identity proofing, on the other hand, asks, “Are you really who you claim to be?” This ensures that the identity you’re presenting matches the real you, often used when setting up a new account. Identity verification asks, “Does this match your ID?” and is typically used to confirm a user’s identity by comparing their live biometric data to an official document. Finally, biometric authentication answers, “Is this the real account owner?” and is used to confirm that a login attempt is legitimate. When it comes to cybersecurity, biometric authentication offers an added layer of protection, ensuring that the person trying to access an account is indeed the rightful user, rather than a sophisticated imposter using methods like deepfakes.