Seamless biometricsDARPA developing seamlessly biometric computer identification

The Defense Department’s advanced research arm is currently seekingto develop a way to seamlessly identify computer users with biometrics in a manner that does not interrupt the flow of work.

Under the Active Authentication Program, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hopes to develop a system that can identify “the individual at the keyboard … through the activities the user normally performs.”

“The Active Authentication program changes the current paradigm by removing the secret that a human holds, the password, and focuses on the secret that the human specifically is,” the agency said.

Ideally, DARPA hopes to remove the existing need for computer users to enter a password or swipe their fingerprint. Instead, researchers are looking to create a system where a user could begin working at a computer and the software would be able to identify them as they went about their business.

One potential method would be to use iris scanners embedded in the computer to capture a user’s iris and identify them as they worked. So far iris scanners have proven to be a popular biometric-authentication method, but have only been used in larger machines like airport security scanners.

The latest announcement comes as the federal government seeks to add an additional layer of security with biometric identifiers beyond just passwords, which have proven to be vulnerable.

The government is currently at work on biometric ID cards that include both fingerprints and iris scans for all federal employees and contractors who enter facilities or use computer systems.