How biometrics is moving from verifying identity to verifying humanity

Even though 'face spoof' sounds like a piece of skateboarder terminology used to describe a particularly vicious wipeout, it’s actually something more commonly dealt with by InfoSec professionals who work for huge banks, telecommunications companies, and healthcare providers.

Simply put: it’s when a scammer uses a 3D mask -- or a printed or on-screen image -- to fool biometric security measures a la "Mission Impossible" in order to gain access to the system those security measures are in place to protect.

During the pandemic, there was an understandable surge in the demand for touchless biometric solutions, so the fear of those systems being compromised became a real topic of concern across industries. As remote workers in charge of managing sensitive data sought ways to unlock access to encrypted files using facial recognition, rather than manage a long string of individual alphanumeric passwords, biometrics had to find a way to add an extra layer of security to facial recognition.