Since a biometric is just another type of authentication factor (in other words, another way to prove who you are), it’s worth looking at biometrics in general compared to other ways of accomplishing the same authentication task: passwords, metal keys and electronic access control devices.

Advantages of Biometrics over Passwords

• Passwords are hard to remember, biometrics are always with you.
• You have to change passwords periodically to keep them secure. That’s a big hassle for many people (and a big hassle inevitably means poor compliance which means poor security). Biometrics are always with you and never change.
• Passwords can be lost or stolen, and anyone with your password can effectively pretend to be you. Biometrics are very difficult to steal (and even more difficult to lose). While we’re on the subject, it’s worth pointing out that severed body parts will not fool the majority of modern biometric systems. 
• Forgotten passwords generate a large volume of very expensive support desk calls at many large-sized organizations.
  

Advantages of Passwords over Biometrics

• You don’t need to buy any extra products to use passwords.
• As long as you remember them, passwords are very quick and reliable.

Advantages of Biometrics over Physical Keys

• A physical key can typically only get you into a single door – or a number of identically-keyed doors, so you have to carry a large number of keys. A biometric can be used to identify you to any number of access systems.
• A key can be lost or stolen or (sometimes) duplicated.
• Disadvantages of Biometrics over Physical Keys
• Metal keys have been around for thousands of years and we’ve pretty much figured out how to make them exactly right – secure, cheap and reliable.

Advantages of Biometrics over Electronic Keys, Dongles and Access Cards

• Biometrics can’t be lost or stolen, all the rest can be.
• Biometrics don’t require you to carry around anything other than the body parts you normally bring with you anyway.
• Unlike some of the more cumbersome dongles that require you to read an access code off one screen and type it into another one, biometrics are (at least potentially) quick and easy to use.
  

Disadvantages of Biometrics over Electronic Keys, Dongles and Access Cards

• Physical tokens are usually more reliable than pure biometrics.
• Physical dongles don’t suffer from the social stigma associated with some biometrics technologies.

Even though biometrics have some advantages over other types of authentication factors, the best systems combine the two. A finger print template stored on a smart card, for example, is a more reliable combination than just a fingerprint by itself. Read more in the section on biometric accuracy for a partial set of reasons.

Read more on the following pages:

Introduction
Page 1 - Conclusion
This page - Pros and cons compared to other authentication solutions
Page 3 - Are biometric systems accurate?
Page 4 - Pros and cons of different biometric solutions

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