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Microsoft Brings Face Verification Technology to Entra

A new facial recognition technology dubbed Face Check is now available on Microsoft Entra Verified ID.

Microsoft first debuted Face Check this February as a preview. The feature is part of Microsoft Entra Verified ID, a managed verifiable credential service that enables organizations to create customized, user-owned identity solutions.

Powered by Azure AI Services, Face Check matches a user's real-time selfie with the photo on their Verified ID, which typically originates from trusted sources like passports or driver's licenses. Face Check analyzes specific facial features, like the position of the eyes and nose, rather than the entire face to generate a confidence score indicating whether the two photos are a match. Organizations can set their preferred confidence score threshold for accepting a Face Check verification (Microsoft recommends a score of 70 percent). A higher threshold decreases the chances of an impersonator being mistakenly accepted.

At 70 percent, the likelihood that a user is not the rightful credential owner is one in 10 million. Raising the threshold to 90 percent reduces the likelihood to one in 1 billion. However, Microsoft said that the higher the threshold, the more likely that a verified user might be rejected, so it's recommended that enterprises find the right balance that works for their organization.

Microsoft touts the service as another layer to strengthen enterprise security and protect organizational data. "By sharing only match results and not any sensitive identity data, Face Check strengthens an organization's identity verification while protecting user privacy," said Microsoft's Ankur Patel. "It can detect and reject various spoofing techniques, including deepfakes, to fully protect your users' identities."

Organizations can also leverage Face Check for more than just security. Because the technology is built on open source standards, IT can custom build their own APIs, connecting employee faces to automated tasks, like automatically connecting users to password resets and virtual help desk assistance.

Enterprises can sign up for Face Check with Microsoft Entra Verified ID as a standalone service, priced at $0.25 per verification, or users can access it as a feature within the Microsoft Entra Suite.

About the Author

Chris Paoli (@ChrisPaoli5) is the associate editor for Converge360.

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