Airport security has been one of the major issues of concern for most of the countries, especially considering the rising rate of militancy. Biometric technology has emerged as
a powerful security support system to ensure access control at various public places. e-Passports, also known as biometric passports or digital passports is one of the most
significant breakthroughs in the field, used to ensure a number of security aspects:
• Automated and secure immigration checks
• Detection of manipulated documents and information
• Identification and verification of the passport holder
• Avoidance of militancy attacks at the air terminals
Worldwide Acceptance
The countries in the European Union and other parts of the world have taken important steps to adopt e-passports in the recent years. UK is one of the first nations to make it
compulsory for issuing e-passports to new applicants and to those applying for a renewal. In the year 2009, the countries like Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia and many
more have replaced the traditional passports with new e-passports.
Working of e-Passports
e-Passports are based upon contact less smart card technology, making use of biometric identification. Biometric systems used for identification in e-passports include fingerprint
recognition, iris recognition and facial recognition. With biometric technology, the samples of an individual are stored on a microprocessor chip and used for electronic
authentication in the future. Digital images of biometric features, including finger patterns and retina are stored in the identity register. To make it more secure,
a number of access control features are integrated with e-passports:
• Random chip identifiers that too provide random chip identification number every time.
• Basic Access Control and Extended Access Control to encrypt the communication data between the passport chip and the chip reader.
• Active authentication to avoid duplication of chip and passive authentication to avoid alteration of chip data.
Standardization for e-passports is provided by various organizations, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, ISO and IEC. As a result, the use of e-passports has
evolved as a great security alternative to prevent big threats in the aviation industry.
a powerful security support system to ensure access control at various public places. e-Passports, also known as biometric passports or digital passports is one of the most
significant breakthroughs in the field, used to ensure a number of security aspects:
• Automated and secure immigration checks
• Detection of manipulated documents and information
• Identification and verification of the passport holder
• Avoidance of militancy attacks at the air terminals
Worldwide Acceptance
The countries in the European Union and other parts of the world have taken important steps to adopt e-passports in the recent years. UK is one of the first nations to make it
compulsory for issuing e-passports to new applicants and to those applying for a renewal. In the year 2009, the countries like Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia and many
more have replaced the traditional passports with new e-passports.
Working of e-Passports
e-Passports are based upon contact less smart card technology, making use of biometric identification. Biometric systems used for identification in e-passports include fingerprint
recognition, iris recognition and facial recognition. With biometric technology, the samples of an individual are stored on a microprocessor chip and used for electronic
authentication in the future. Digital images of biometric features, including finger patterns and retina are stored in the identity register. To make it more secure,
a number of access control features are integrated with e-passports:
• Random chip identifiers that too provide random chip identification number every time.
• Basic Access Control and Extended Access Control to encrypt the communication data between the passport chip and the chip reader.
• Active authentication to avoid duplication of chip and passive authentication to avoid alteration of chip data.
Standardization for e-passports is provided by various organizations, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, ISO and IEC. As a result, the use of e-passports has
evolved as a great security alternative to prevent big threats in the aviation industry.
