The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has introduced a new security mechanism for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication, aimed at detecting spoofing attempts more quickly, according to an official release on Monday.

The security mechanism is based on artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), which uses a combination of finger minutia and image to verify the liveness of the fingerprint captured.

In a statement, UIDAI announced a new security mechanism noting that "this is making Aadhaar authentication transactions even more robust and secure".

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This two-factor/layer authentication adds additional checks to validate the genuineness of the fingerprint, making Aadhaar authentication transactions even more secure.

The development is expected to be particularly beneficial in sectors such as banking, finance, telecom, and government, and is expected to improve the Aadhaar-enabled payment system and prevent malicious attempts by unscrupulous individuals.

This will ultimately benefit the "bottom of the pyramid," or those at the base of the socio-economic ladder.

"The new security mechanism for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication has now become fully functional. The rollout and migration happened after months of discussion and hand-holding by UIDAI of its partners and user agencies," the release added.

The adoption of Aadhaar-based authentication transactions has been on the rise, with a cumulative number of Aadhaar authentication transactions crossing 88.29 billion as of December 2022, and an average of 70 million transactions per day.

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