Title: Securing online transactions with biometric methods

Authors: James A. Pope, Dieter Bartmann

Addresses: College of Business Administration, University of Toledo, 2801 Bancroft St. Toledo, Ohio 43606 USA. ' Information Systems II, Universitat Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany

Abstract: As more and more marketing and retailing is done electronically, the security of online transactions becomes a growing problem. The public media almost daily carry stories of security breaches in firms of all types and sizes, from banks to retailers. If the electronic retail supply chain cannot assure its customers that their transactions will be secure, the growth of this sector will be limited. Traditionally, the primary method of securing access to an online transaction system and its databases has been passwords. Passwords have been widely used because of their simplicity of implementation and use, but are now regarded as providing minimal security. More sophisticated methods based on biometric attributes have been developed. Among them are voice recognition, fingerprint identification and typing recognition methods. We shall describe and discuss the traditional methods, and then biometric methods and their relative advantages and disadvantages in securing online transactions.

Keywords: online transactions; biometrics; voice recognition; fingerprint identification; typing recognition; authentication systems; passwords; security tokens; retina scans; PINs; personal identification numbers; internet; world wide web; security breaches; banks; online banking; electronic banking; e-banking; SCM; supply chain management; database access; biometric attributes; secure systems; electronic marketing; e-marketing; electronic retailing; e-retailing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2010.032870

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2010 Vol.3 No.2, pp.132 - 144

Published online: 26 Apr 2010 *

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