The company makes its first deviation into a new line of products with AX11224 Biometric Safe. This biometric gun safe can store up to 30 fingerprints and gives you the unique ability to give only temporary access for set periods of time to specific users. A very interesting feature which your really don’t find on other models of this size and price range.  This could come in handy especially in a office environment when you need to allow a temporary worker access to the safe when the primary person is on vacation.

The Baraska safe includes emergency back-up keys and requires 4 AA batteries to run (operate the mechanism-although the fingerprints are stored in permanent memory).  Another interesting feature, which is different than many biometric safes or even electronic safes is that the batteries and electronics are secured inside the safe.  If the batteries die, the only way to replace them is with the backup key.  Because that key allows access to the safe, bypassing the biometric authentication, make sure to place the key in a secure location far from the safe.  You don’t want a thief finding it and using it to simply open your safe.

One small drawback that I noticed on the safe is that there isn’t really a door handle.  The manufacturer expects that you will open and close the door by gripping the round reader casing.  I understand that a handle can be compromised, but even a simple half moon shaped cabinet handle screwed into the front would be better than nothing!  Also, because it lacks a handle, you must push the power button to re-lock the safe.  I suspect that many people forget this step and they leave their safe unsecured.

A much more important drawback is the safe has a several beeps when using the biometric reader.  It beeps once when you turn the power on with the button.  A double beep when you put your finger on the reader and then even worse, a long loud beep when the door opens.  There is no way to disable the sounds.  I consider this a big security risk as you don’t want to alert an intruder when you need to get your gun, plus even worse is that it beeps 3 different times!

The Barska AX11224 weighs 31 pounds, comes with 2 keys and floor mounting hardware. The outer dimensions are 16.5″ X 14.5″ X 7.75″ and has a 1 year limited warranty. It can be purchased here.  The safe is quickly becoming a success among gun owners that already know the quality of the Barska line.

Biometrics are any methods for uniquely identifying a human based upon one or more unique physical or behavioral traits that can not be reproduced easily or at all.  This unique trait forms the basis for identifying that particular person and is store in the computer as the foundation for identity access management and access control.  These are fancy words that say  “the computer stores something that only you posses (like your fingerprint) and then uses that to validate that you are you”.  Most often the biometrics software has a three step process which includes an interface from the computer to the human (possibly a touch screen called a biometric reader), a pre-processing algorithm to normalize the image from the interface, enhance the image, and remove any background noise, and third a process that takes the normalized image and breaks it down into data points and stores it in the computer’s database while discarding any other non-relevant information.

Safes are essentially hardened and strengthen metal boxes with doors.  Those doors are secured by large metal bolts that extend out from the door and into the frame of the door, again hardening the opening.  They are meant to keep people out.  Although many new improvements in the securing of the box have been made over the last 100 years, that part of device remains mostly unchanged.  The bulk of the improvements/enhancements or maybe call it modernization in safes are in how you gain access to it.  Originally it was a key, then it became a dial lock, then more sophisticated dial locks, then electronic locks, and eventually biometric safes, where the owner is the only one that can possess the combo (a fingerprint).  It can’t be stolen and is difficult to reproduce.  Many safes also have multiple access systems for either additional security or alternative entry in case of a failure.

To use a biometric safe, you first must go through a process called enrollment.  During this process, your biometric information (fingerprint) is stored in the memory inside the tiny circuitry in the safe.  This enrollment process is much like choosing your password the first time you sign up for a new website or something and it called registering a user.  It uniquely identifies you as you.  Most biometric safes allow you to store multiple fingerprints to allow multiple people to open the safe.

When you want to open the safe, you simply hold your finger over the biometric reader and the the safe will open.  It is that simple.  If the fingerprint does not match any on file, the safe does not open.  Some models will shut down for 10 minutes if there have been too many failed attempts.  Most biometric gun safes do NOT have this feature as it can a life or death situation if you can’t get the safe open.  Many models have simple AA batteries to change from the exterior of the unit to keep the safe running.  Plus, for added peace of mind, many manufactures offer a secondary way to open the safe such as a keypad or a key (which should be store away when not needed).

Biometrics are considered good systems of security. Keep in mind that the technology, like any, is not perfect. It suffers from what is called False Acceptances or False Rejections. A False Acceptance is when an person is allowed into the safe, although they are not a registered user. This could occur when a person is similar to a user or has copied the user’s biological or behavioral information (which is difficult, but not impossible to do).  Most biometric safes carry have a False Accept Rates that vary from 0.0001% to 0.1%, which makes them very secure.  Alternatively, a False Rejection occurs when a registered user is falsely rejected and not allowed access. This occurs when a user’s criteria does not match their stored information.  The failure rate for this varies from 0.00066% to 1.0%.  This will often occur from human error if a person uses the wrong finger to access the safe.

Manufactures of these safes include:  Honeywell, Barska, Gunvault, Biovault, and LockSAF to name a few.