Question 3

This question carries 70% of the assignment marks.

Before tackling this question you should study Block 2 Part 7.

Dynamic Emergency Aid is a charity that distributes relief essentials such as food and clothes to victims of disasters. When a major disaster happens, they will set up bases near the disaster areas. Each base serves a few hundred victims. One problem they sometimes face is fraudulent and/or duplicate claims because the claimants do not usually have reliable identification documents, so it is difficult to identify them. To combat this problem, the charity currently uses an electoral stain to mark a finger of the claimants as they collect the aid. The claimant will be refused further aid if their finger is already stained. The stain usually stays on the skin for 3 to 5 days and a claimant cannot receive more aid until the stain disappears. As the time the stain stays on peoples skin is inconsistent, this gives an unfair advantage to people whose stains disappear more quickly. Furthermore, this time constraint also makes it difficult for daily distribution, which is sometimes a preferred way of distributing aid.

Hence the charity is seeking an alternative way of checking whether a claimant is entitled to further aid. The use of biometric authentication is being considered by the management team. According to the descriptions on the product catalogues they requested and received, both fingerprint and iris systems appear to be suitable authentication systems for their purpose. The management team is interested in biometric systems because they do not require users to carry a token. However, the management team need more information to inform their ongoing discussion. They know one of their IT officers has studied an OU module (TM255) covering biometrics and information security. They have therefore asked the IT officer to provide them with a report that will supply the information they need. Imagine you are that IT officer and you have been asked to prepare the report.

Your brief is that the report is to cover the following.

A general description of biometric authentication systems and a brief description of how each of the fingerprint and iris systems authenticates users.

A comparison between the fingerprint and iris authentication systems, in the context of disaster relief, under the headings of:

convenience

reliability

acceptability (including ethical considerations).

In each case you should consider the points of view of both the charity and the claimants.

Drawing on these comparisons, provide a justified recommendation of which biometric system would best meet the charitys needs.

Most members of the management team know very little about biometric security systems and have only a vague idea about relevant issues. However, two key members of the management team have a particular interest in biometric systems and have therefore asked for a more detailed explanation of how fingerprint and iris systems capture and process the users data. The report should therefore also include material in an appendix, intended solely for them, that deals explicitly with this. The rest of the report should provide the information the other members of the management team need, to inform their future discussions, without them having to read the appendix.

Write this report. You have been asked not to exceed 2200 words.

You should draw on what Block 2 Part 7 has to say about writing reports. Be sure to include a reference list if you quote or cite anything.

You are strongly advised to critically evaluate and improve your report before you submit it, using the criteria listed in Stage 5 of Block 2 Part 7 Section 7.6.

Do not exceed the limit of 2200 words. This limit includes the material in the appendix, but not the reference list. State the total number of words you have used at the end of your report.

Along with the main report, you have been asked to provide an executive summary, which should not exceed 300 words. Write this executive summary.

You should refer back to Block 2 Part 7 Section 7.2 to help you to answer this question.

Do not exceed the limit of 300 words. State the total number of words you have used at the end of your executive summary.

Although an executive summary is usually placed at the start of a report, it is normally written after the report has been completed and so, for the purposes of this assignment, we ask that you give the executive summary as your answer to Question 4. You do not need to replicate it at the start of the report you give in answer to Question 3.