Securing Sensitive Data Stored on Smartphones: Using Face Recognition to Unlock Mobile Devices

Smartphones and tablets have become the new staple of the business and commercial industries, allowing employees to complete necessary tasks without requiring them to be confined to an office. However, with this mobility it is required that employees using these devices remain cautious to secure the sensitive data that is stored on their smartphones. To better aid those employees that use smartphones to complete their daily tasks at work, it is imperative to develop the best security features possible in order to safeguard the data they carry. This paper presents security features that are already being employed to lock smartphones, and why they are weak in comparison to biometric security features. Biometric features will be outlined, specifically face recognition, and how it could be used to secure sensitive data stored on a smartphone.