US military working on behavioural biometrics ID verification system

Fingerprints, passwords and iris scans could soon be a thing of the past for the US military, with plans afoot to create a new identity verification system.

The US military is working with West Point to develop a new biometric API technology, as part of a deal worth millions of dollars, that can determine a person's identity using algorithms that recognises how they use their PCs or smartphone.

It does this by recognising things such as typographical errors, rate of type, and how an individual uses their mouse, according to a document seen by Sky News.

One of the contract documents references a "cognitive fingerprint", which is the term used to describe how an individual uses their electronic devices.

The system works on the premise that the way a person uses technology is unique to them, and this forms the basis of a new and emerging field of security technology called behavioural biometrics.

The offering also consists of new capabilities, such as the ability to examine how a document is constructed. This will be useful to determine if plagiarism has occurred and when checking for academic authorship.

The military intends on developing this software for defence purposes initially, as a part of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency programme.

Eventually it is hoped it could be used in civilian markets for tasks such as shopping, online banking, and for other consumer-focused applications.

Sharif Sakr, a tech strategy consultant, told Sky News that anyone can commit fraud, harass others, or spy on people right now because there is currently no way to identify people.

Therefore, any tech device that can identify people rapidly and effectively will be useful in "making the web a more civilised place".