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Windows 10 mobile devices, Surface Laptops, and several other 3rd parties integrate an Intel Realsense 3D camera.

Windows Hello extends this 3D camera to support user authentication.

  • What security parameters are used to describe the relative security of this authentication? (for example, fingerprint readers use quantity of points to determine the integrity of the scan)

  • What other relevant information is useful for comparing this biometric authentication

makerofthings7
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    Since you cannot change biometric parameters (e.g. your face!), I personally think that biometric logins can only ever be a convenience feature not really a security one. Certainly not a high-security feature. Well managed multi-factor authentication will always be stronger. However, for many use cases, it is going to be "good enough" – Julian Knight Sep 12 '16 at 09:12
  • @JulianKnight This question is regarding the technical quality of the biometric data received. I'm looking for a summary of data points, class, resolution, vertices, etc that are used for this feature. – makerofthings7 Sep 12 '16 at 14:23
  • ... also not authentication is the same. Windows Hello implies "something you have", which is the computer with the non-transferrable hello data. Akin to the thumbprint sensor on many devices. You do have valid points though. – makerofthings7 Sep 12 '16 at 14:25
  • "This question is regarding" - Yes, that's why that is a comment and not an answer. ;-) – Julian Knight Sep 12 '16 at 14:26
  • Is the hello data non-transferable? I've not checked whether it syncs to other machines along with much other data. Good point though. – Julian Knight Sep 12 '16 at 14:27
  • @JulianKnight - Of course, I only wrote that for newcomers, to clarify my desire. – makerofthings7 Sep 12 '16 at 14:28
  • @JulianKnight - Initial readings over the docs seemed to indicate that. Would love to verify, or determine the realm of transferability (akin to Apple Keychain) – makerofthings7 Sep 12 '16 at 14:29
  • I guess you need 2 devices, both with hello and with the same Microsoft account login. I do have 2 but they have different logins because I'm fed up of certain settings being synch'd between machines with the same login! I always forget and it gets messy :-{ – Julian Knight Sep 12 '16 at 14:33
  • I am fairly sure Windows Hello does not "use" the new features that Intel's RealSense offers. So it would be just as secure as a normal webcam. (Ie.: Not much.) This might change in the future of course. Maybe in the next update after Creator they will add support. – Apache Jan 29 '17 at 09:54

1 Answers1

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According to Microsoft's website, there are 3 measurements that represent the accuracy of Windows Hello's facial recognition, which are: False Positives; True Positives; and False Negatives. These are explained in the quote below

Microsoft represents the accuracy of Windows Hello face in three main measures, which are: False Positives, True Positives, and False Negatives.

False positives:

Also called False Acceptance Rate, represents the likelihood a random user who obtains access to your device will be recognized as you. This number should be as low as possible.

With windows 10, the results are less than 0.001% or 1/100,000 FAR (False Acceptance Rate)

True Positives:

The True Positive rate represents the likelihood a user will be correctly matched to their profile each time they are registered by the camera This number should be high

The results with windows 10 are greater than 95% with a single enrolled user

False negatives:

Represents the likelihood a user is not matched to their enrolled profile. This number should be low.

The results with Windows 10 are less than 5% with a single enrolled user.

schroeder
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Joaco Castellano
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