The Structure of This Book

The book has four sections:

Section 1 “Introduction and Background

While this section title is seen in many other books, this book tries to provide a different view. The first chapter in this section is about authentication technologies. If you are to use and deploy biometrics, you need to understand where they fit in relative to other types of authentication, and also where one authentication method may be better than another for a given use. Chapter 3 describes privacy issues. While other books tackle privacy, it is normally from the user 's perspective. In this chapter, I contrast and balance the needs of privacy for the employer, employee, and customer with biometrics as both an enabler and a compromiser of privacy.

Section 2 “Biometric Technologies

This section deals with different types of biometrics and biometric devices. The devices described in these chapters were selected by me to reflect, at the time, what I believed to be the best suited for network security. Each chapter in this section has the same format so that it is easy to compare one biometric device's features versus another's. Before any discussion on technologies takes place, it is important to define what makes a good biometric for network security and which features of a biometric are most important to evaluate for network security. The final two chapters of this section discuss the mathematics of biometrics and how a complete biometric system can be secured.

Section 3 “Implementing Biometrics for Network Security

This section is what truly sets this book apart. In three chapters, the reader is led through the proof of concept, the pilot, and lastly, the rollout. In the chapters of this section, the stories of Martin and Jason will be told. Martin and Jason personify the right and wrong ways to deploy biometric technology. Martin is the culmination of my experience when the outlined steps are followed and the biometric project is delivered. Jason is the culmination of my experience when the different stages of the methodology are skipped or not taken seriously. It is these chapters that will make or break the success of a project.

Section 4 “Future and Conclusions

With the serious aim of the book out of the way, it is fun to try to predict what the future holds in store for biometrics. I have seen some of this technology myself , and can say without any doubt, it carries a high "cool factor."