Striking the right balance between robust security and smooth user experience in access control is challenging. Our instinct tells us not to compromise on the security of our premises. But if it’s going to cost millions to implement and take each user five minutes to get through the front door, you might end up with more problems than you solve.
ATRIUM is an edge-based online access control system. It offers wide scope for integration, covering third-party solutions like intruder alarms, elevators, ANPR, and biometrics. This blog will explore how system designers can find the right balance between security and convenience in an ATRIUM system with biometric fingerprint readers.
Understanding ATRIUM access control
ATRIUM puts you in control of your security. Highly customisable and adaptable to a huge range of building types, ATRIUM scales to up to 500 doors and 10,000 users. For installers, it’s a cost-effective and convenient system, with just one controller for every two doors. And that’s read in and read out as well as read in only. Plus, with end-to-end AES encryption straight out of the box, ATRIUM delivers reliability and confidence that transmitted data is safe.
Integrating biometrics with ATRIUM is simple, too. Our ievo fingerprint readers are the ideal companion. To ensure smooth integration, we developed isync. As a handy mid-point software, isync sits between the ATRIUM admin software and the ievo admin software. Once integrated, it takes just one click to open the ievo fingerprint registration screen from within the ATRIUM portal. It’s simple, secure, and seamless.
The role of biometrics in modern security
Biometric authentication is becoming ever more popular for access control. And that’s hardly surprising. Biometric readers, once properly integrated, solve two problems in one fell swoop: enhancing security and improving user experience.
How biometric credentials enhance security
Credentials are the things you use to engage with an access control system and validate your identity. Traditionally, credentials have been physical items like a swipe card or keyring fob, or some kind of code like a PIN or a password. But both of those types of credentials come with some intrinsic risks.
Have you ever misplaced a swipe card? Had your keys stolen with your door entry fob attached to them? It happens. And when it does, there’s a risk that the credential could be used by an unauthorised individual to gain access to the premises. And for PINs and passwords, they’re intangible. How do you know that users haven’t told their friend, partner, delivery driver, or anyone else what the code is?
Biometric credentials practically eliminate both of these risks. Your fingerprint, facial features, and iris patterns are intrinsic and unique to you. You can’t lend them to someone else temporarily. And stealing them from you is exceptionally difficult and probably won’t work anyway. ievo readers utilise liveness detection to detect active blood flow underneath a fingerprint, and they’re ISO PAD Level 1 compliant for rejecting spoof attacks.
How biometrics improve user experience
What does your access control system expect of you? We all have expectations of the system: keep unauthorised people out of restricted zones. But most systems also expect certain things of their users. If your system uses swipe cards to validate user identity, then it expects that you will remember to bring that card with you and carry it around all day. Conversely, if your system uses PIN codes, it expects you to commit that PIN to memory and recall it every time you engage with the system.
But biometric readers don’t expect anything at all. All you need is yourself. Nothing to bring and nothing to remember. You can’t forget your fingerprints at home or lend your iris patterns to your neighbour. User experience is about convenience and making things as easy as possible – and access control could not be easier than biometrics.
Balancing security and user experience with ATRIUM and biometrics
Together, ATRIUM and ievo deliver a strong combination of built-in security and convenience. With AES encryption ensuring that data communicated between devices is always robustly protected, ATRIUM packs a cyber-security punch.
Plus ievo readers don’t store any fingerprint data at all on the reader itself. Everything is kept securely on a separate Interface Board, installed on the secure side of the door so it’s inaccessible. Security with ievo goes even further still – the data that is stored on the Interface Board isn’t an actual photograph of your fingerprint. It’s a digital template generated from a proprietary algorithm. The original image of the fingerprint is discarded. So even if someone managed to steal the reader head and the Interface Board, they couldn’t access anybody’s fingerprint images anyway.
And for user experience? ATRIUM and ievo fingerprint readers ensure smooth access procedures with as little delay as possible. In most buildings, everyday users won’t be impressed with a system that makes them stand around for ages while the access control system thinks about whether to let them in or not. By combining minimal authentication times with uncompromising security, ATRIUM and ievo tick all the right boxes.
Considerations and best practices for integrating biometrics
Striking the right balance between security and user experience with biometric credentials is an art form. And there are a lot of refinements to consider. For example, threshold settings mean admins can customise the level of matching required between a scanned fingerprint and a saved template to allow authorisation. Here’s a clue – expecting a 100% match is fairly unrealistic, as factors like the angle of finger presentation, the weather, and residue or debris on fingertips interfere with the matching process. However, the lower your acceptance threshold, the higher the chance of your system’s False Acceptance Rate (FAR) increasing. Read our blog to learn more about FAR and FRR in biometric systems.
Another important consideration is data privacy concerns. Many people are uncomfortable giving out their biometric data, even with the extremely robust measures put in place to protect it. It’s always a good idea to think about fallback options for users to authenticate their identity without using biometric credentials. Learn more about data privacy in fingerprint recognition systems in our blog post.
Conclusion
Security is the primary goal of an access control system. You want to keep unauthorised people out and only let authorised people in when you want them in. But without thinking about user experience, you’re setting yourself up for some unhappy users who won’t buy into the benefits of the system. A compromise must be made. But fortunately, ATRIUM access control in combination with ievo fingerprint readers delivers a compromise with the best of both worlds. High security data transmission and credentials that nobody will forget in their other handbag or accidentally disclose to a delivery driver – it’s a match made in access control heaven.
We’ve looked at this crucial balancing act in other blog posts – have a read at the links below:
