US: AI technology provider Jumio has launched “selfie” verification technology, Jumio Authentication, which will help clients at Airbnb to prevent identify theft.
Jumio Authentication works by capturing hundreds of images of people when they take a selfie video to verify themselves during sensitive online transactions or when unlocking accounts and doors, as it creates a 3D identity map that ensures identities cannot be spoofed.
What does Jumio expect to achieve?
The technology will offer a new dimension to existing biometric authentication, by recognising a person’s detailed and unique human traits such as their face and voice. In that way, it enables more secure verification.
The company hopes it will eventually replace less secure verification processes such as passwords and two-step authentication for its clients, which, as well as Airbnb, include the airline easyJet and challenger bank Monzo.
Jumio president Robert Prigge told Compelo: “Selfies are now our passports and increasingly over the next few years, biometrics will be the future. In the past, companies have checked who we are by asking questions about our background or two-factor authentication.
“All those systems are so easy to spoof that I’m convinced it’s really all about biometrics – our faces and voice will be how we unlock things in the future. With technology like ours, you’re just going to need to take a video selfie to unlock a rental car, get into your hotel room if you’ve lost the key, open a new bank account and make a big transaction,” he added.
What is the purpose of the Jumio ID verification technology?
Jumio claims to be the world’s largest AI-powered provider of identity service technology, with more than 2,000 staff and offices worldwide.
Since its inception, Jumio has enabled both identities and documents to be verified instantly using its AI technology over 150 million times.
Mr Prigge said that offers more enhanced security than previous methods, such as knowledge-based or personal questions, as these can still be picked up by online fraudsters, credential phishing scams and large-scale data breaches among others.
Jumio realised fraudsters were quickly spotting loopholes to bypass online identify verification software by tricking it with so-called “spoofing attacks”. It can be done by simply using a photograph, video or mask of the authorised person’s face.
According to Javelin Strategy, identity theft is on the rise, with 16.7 million victims recorded in the US in 2017, costing nearly $17bn in data losses. Meanwhile, UK fraud prevention service Cifas said cases in Britain rose by 125 per cent in ten years to 175,000 in 2017.
Prigge said: “Identity fraud is absolutely rampant and increasing as a problem. As companies move online, there’s been almost no way of dealing with it remotely so they’re reacting to it now and adapting to new ways of verifying identities.”
How does Jumio Authentication work?
Jumio Authentication is integrated with anti-spoofing technology made by FaceTec, which begins during the enrolment process when a user takes a photograph of their government-issued ID, such as a driver’s licence, passport or ID card.
They are then asked to take a video selfie, which is instantly analysed using AI to determine they are who they claim to be and not a fraud.
Later, when the user wants to log into their account or whenever a sensitive transaction occurs, the facial recognition technology enables the user to take another video selfie, where a new 3D face map is established. That is then compared to the original face map, and this verifies the user and unlocks the account in a matter of seconds.
Entitled “ZoOm 3D Face Login with TrueLiveness Detection”, it claims to be the only software of its kind recognised with level one and two security certificates issued by software testing company iBeta and the US’ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Mr Prigge said: “We’re tying your biometrics to your identity so we know who you are. When you’re taking a selfie, instead of one image, it’s taking hundreds if not thousands of them.
“This creates a 3D map and shows whether it’s a mask or if you’re pretending to be someone else. The real power of it is that, because we can map the video selfie, if you lose your phone, all you need to do is take another video selfie and the technology will identify it as you again, rather than someone who might have stolen your phone.
“Trust is the killer problem that companies need to solve when they go online and we think this is the only way,” he added.
What does the future hold for Jumio and biometrics?
According to research group Gartner, over half of the world’s large companies will replace their existing authentication platforms with biometrics by 2023, and there will be over 2.6 billion biometric payment users in banks by the same year.
In June last year, consultancy company McKinsey predicted the identity verification-as-a-service market would grow from $10bn (£7.8m) to almost $20bn (£15.6m) by 2022.
Jumio CEO Stephen Stuut added: “As more of our important interactions move online, establishing trust digitally has become critical. Jumio is pioneering selfie-based authentication to allow businesses to leverage biometric user data captured during enrolment and re-verify that data in the future.
“With our new selfie-based authentication, users are not required to repeat the identity proofing process again. They just take a quick selfie and as the digital chain of trust grows, so does the security level,” he added.
