Access Control in the 21st Century

09 Jun 2008

Since primitive man first began seeking shelter in caves or built rude huts in trees, people have felt a need to keep those inside safe and those outside away; in other words, there has always been a need for access control. People have approached this problem in a number of different ways since those long-ago times and the advancements have taken many different forms.

The earliest and most obvious solution was probably to post a guard at the entrance that could rely on his senses and his physical strength to thwart intruders. When doors were first erected they provided a means of privacy, but in order to be secure, they needed a bar or blockade of some kind. Many years later, keys came into use that would allow access to some people but not others. Gates, fences, drawbridges, and portcullises were some of the other means used to keep homes secure.

It has been a constant challenge to design a method that allows people to come and go as needed without the entrance point becoming a fatal weakness in the overall structure. In modern times we no longer need to rely on flawed human guards or crude mechanical means such as locks and keys to control the access to our homes, businesses and cars. Keyed entry systems have always been subject to those who would duplicate or steal the key in order to gain entrance, producing an obvious weakness. Furthermore, a lock that is intended to be opened through physical manipulation is vulnerable by its very nature. Locks can be “picked,” broken or forced by those determined to enter with or without permission.

Today, lock and key systems have been replaced by keyless entry methods such as biometrics. The term biometrics comes from the Greek words “bios” meaning life and “metron” meaning measurement. It is the science of confirming a person’s identity through the analysis of the individual’s unique physical or behavioral traits. When used for access control, biometric systems take several forms including fingerprint-readers and voice and retina-recognition systems.

Such methods have long existed in science fiction, but they are becoming more of a practical reality day by day. Biometric technologies hold a huge advantage over other keyless methods like card reader because such approaches are once again dependent on information which can be forgotten, lost or stolen much like the simple key.

Biometrics needs nothing more than the unique, unchanging characteristics of the person that has been granted access. For example, it is difficult in the extreme to steal someone’s hand. The duplication of that hand, if it were possible at all, is a much more daunting task than the duplication of a key card. Thus, a sophisticated system like a fingerprint reader is unlikely to be fooled. This simple illustration shows the great advances made in the field of access control, and the peace of mind that new methods can provide.