Biometrics : Password Replacement for Elderly Eiman Ahmed, Brandon DeLuca, Emily Hirowski, Connor Magee, Ivan Tang Dr. Jean F. Coppola Department of Information Technology Pace University New York, New York

Background Elderly are left behind in the process of creating new technology Difficulty learning new things Physical limitations restrict usability In terms of security, aging leads to memory loss, affecting password protection

The Importance of Security

Cybersecurity Issues Defined Rapidly and continually developing cyber dangers Passwords ensure users’ personalities on sites, purchases, emails, banking, etc... Passwords are tedious to remember, but are important Biometrics is a good solution to this problem, especially for the elderly, as it rids the user of having to remember any password at all, by using physical features

Biometrics

Forgotten Generation

Seniors and Technology Discouraging Characteristics: Disabilities/ health issues High skepticism Needing someone to teach them Common in internet users: Ages 65-69 Annual household income of $75,000 or higher College graduates Pew Research Center 3 Apr 2014 Aaron Smith

Usage Today Popular: Social Media User friendliness Social while being home bound Not Popular: Banking Online Shopping Health Insurance Portal

Overview Gender Male 56% Female 44% Age Groups <50 28% 50-59 36% <50 28% 50-59 36% 60-69 24% 70-79 8% 80-89 4% 90+ 0%

Disparity in Usage Ages 50-59 Ages 70-89

Traditional Passwords Traditional methods are not time efficient

Keyboard vs. Biometric Scanner Majority find keyboard difficult to use, prefer biometric experience

Traditional vs. Biometric More neutral results

Importance of Biometrics Usage Majority disagree with statement, but would use security more if accessible

Traditional vs. Biometrics More on neutral, but majority do

Conclusion Security isn’t the primary concern of older adults Typical methods of storing and loading passwords to be rather exhausting More inclined to using security features if they were made to be more accessible. Typing in and remembering passwords is not a major factor in most of them using technology more often than they currently do or do not Biometrics, although popular and useful, needs further testing.

Future Work Continuing to gather new data to strengthen findings Distribute findings to Biometric hardware manufacturers, push out this technology to elderly population Continue to spread awareness of intense security needs in the 21st century to all age populations