With high
paced growth in biometrics, its easy availability to capture various biometric
features, it is <a>emerging as one of the most valuable
technologies for multifactor authentication to verify a user’s identity, for
data security. </a>Organizations
encourage their members to use biometrics, but <a>they
are hesitant to use due to perceived security risks. Because of its low usage
rate, many medium and small segment organizations find it unfeasible to deploy
robust biometric systems. </a>We propose a solution of an extra layer of
security, via a low-cost mobile app framework, “Bio-Guard,” to use biometrics,
more securely. We tested the app for its design, functions, usability, and it
got a score of more than 71% on the usability scale and a reasonably low equal
error rate (EER) of 6%. The survey to evaluate the usefulness of the app showed
a favorable response of 80%. The results show a good potential of the app to
make access to biometric data more secure. The app may enhance users’
confidence-level in encouraging higher participation of users in the usage of
biometrics. Higher usage rates may make deployment of biometrics more
cost-effective for many medium and small segment organizations to decrease
their information security risk.