TheDepartment of Work and Pensionsis
looking at using two-factor authentication and "shared secret"
security when paying benefits to members of the
public.
Martin Bellamy, group applications director at the department,
ruled out biometric security in the immediate future because of
"issues" with the method.
He said, "Our way forward is a shared-secret based approach. We
will not pursue biometrics in the immediate future. They have a
part to play but there are still some issues.
"If each transaction takes one minute too long, that is hundreds
of extra staff we will need each year. Our objectives are to
deliver better services and improve efficiency, through more use of
electronic channels.
"Better identity management will also help us to reduce the
£800m we lose in fraud each year."
Bellamy mentioned
two-factor authentication but said the main route they would
take would be to improve the use of supplementary questions. When
the customer first contacts the department, staff ask them various
questions and carry out data matching to ensure they are who they
say they are.
At every subsequent point of contact, staff will ask for two
letters of an individual's postcode or another similar piece of
personal information.