Healthcare Information Security Podcast

Interview with Myra Gray, Director, U.S. Army Biometrics Task Force Though fingerprint and iris scans have advantages over passwords and magnetic identity cards as a means to grant access to IT systems, in many instances, the biometric technologies aren't ready to be employed alone, says Myra Gray, director of the U.S. Army's Biometrics Task Force. "Actually, it's an outstanding method for good, strong identity assurance," Gray said in an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com. "But before we go throwing out passwords and usernames, I'd like to articulate that biometrics is one tool of many. It should be part of the portfolio that's used to protect against identity theft." Gray explained that three things exist to prove ones identity: What you know, such as a password; what you have, a magnetic card or token; and what you are - "something that's uniquely you" - an iris, a fingerprint "The power, it not just picking one over other, but setting up a construct that utilizes all of those as appropriate" Gray s