FSTEC Order 21

Encrypt Don't Trust: Securing Palm Vein Biometrics from Sensor to Access Control Server

An in-depth technical analysis explores how to protect palm vein biometric data in access control systems using a security-by-design approach. The article emphasizes that biometric templates cannot be changed like passwords, making robust protection essential against physical theft, insider threats, and presentation attacks. It details the application of Zero Trust principles, minimizing the Trusted Computing Base, and implementing hardware roots of trust such as Secure Boot and encrypted non-volatile memory. Russian regulatory requirements including 152-FZ, Government Decree No. 1119 for data protection levels, FSTEC Order No. 21, and FSB Order No. 378 are mapped directly to technical controls like mTLS, OSDP v2.2, and liveness detection. Threat actor profiles ranging from external attackers to privileged insiders are analyzed with specific countermeasures for each segment of the data path. The piece concludes that trust must be compressed to the hardware root, server room, and dual-operator registration process while everything else relies on verifiable cryptography and auditing.