Firms’ biometrics records ‘can be hacked’

By Dave Nixon

The rising use of biometrics to identify individuals is “insecure and in need of immediate attention,” according to an IT systems company.

Fujitsu Siemens said biometrics is progressively more being used in the business world to confirm whether individuals really are who they say. By 2013, Fujitsu Siemens forecasts biometric identity technology will be so prevalent in the private sector that the number of people included would challenge that of the anticipated national ID schemes.

Inside five years, 95 percent of the UK population will be identifiable through biometrics and other means. However the tracking and monitoring of people may possibly be a peril if security controls were not tightened up, the IT company said.

The government lately commissioned a report in which ex- banker Sir James Crosby said that inside five years people were expected to be carrying numerous biometric identifiers. In the report, Crosby called on the government to work with banks to produce a universal ID assurance scheme, led by the private sector, which would effect in a more secure system.