TalkTalk Launches Secure Biometric Authentication
A spectrogram of the phrase "I owe you".
TalkTalk has become one of the first major companies to use biometric authentication, allowing customers to access their accounts using voice recognition following last year's data breach which has so far cost the company nearly £60m.
The next time customers ring TalkTalk’s customer service line, they will be asked to repeat a phrase three times, which is then used to build a biometric "blueprint" of their voice.
TalkTalk said voice recognition technology is one of the most secure ways to verify people’s identity, recognising more than 100 different aspects of a person’s voice including the shape of their larynx and nasal passage. The company also said it would speed up its customer service operations, which have been highly criticised in the past.
Although it will mean customer accounts are more secure over the phone, ironically it would not have prevented the online hack attack on TalkTalk's systems, which saw the personal details of 157,000 customers and bank account and credit card details stolen. More than 100,000 subscribers have ditched TalkTalk since the incident.
“The launch forms part of TalkTalk’s continual focus on improving customers’ experience and its long term strategy to ensure customer data is as secure as possible,” the company said. “Over time, voice biometrics will reduce the amount of sensitive personal information customers will have to disclose, as when a customer calls, the advisor will only see if the customer is verified or not.”
Last month, HSBC claimed, that it would be introducing the first UK voice recognition and touch security service for online banking customers, supplied by Nuance Communications.
Up to 15 million customers will no longer have to remember passwords and answers to random security questions.
