(May 2, 2012) New
Protocol Enables Wireless and Secure Biometric Acquisition with Web Services
Researchers
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and
published a new protocol for communicating with biometric sensors over wired
and wireless networks—using some of the same technologies that underpin the
web.
The new
protocol, called WS-Biometric Devices (WS-BD), allows desktops, laptops,
tablets and smartphones to access sensors that capture biometric data such as
fingerprints, iris images and face images using web services. Web services
themselves are not new; for example, video-on-demand services use web services
to stream videos to mobile devices and televisions.
The
WS-Biometric Devices protocol will greatly simplify setting up and maintaining
secure biometric systems for verifying identity because such biometric systems
will be easier to assemble with interoperable components compared to current
biometrics systems that generally have proprietary device-specific drivers and
cables. WS-BD enables interoperability by adding a device-independent
web-services layer in the communication protocol between biometric devices and
systems.