ain. Neural networks are composed of simple components called
"neurons" each having simple tasks, and simultaneously communicating with each other by
complex interconnections. As Herb Brody states, "Neural networks do not require an explicit
set of rules. The network - rather like a child - makes up its own rules that match the
data it receives to the result it’s told is correct" (42). Impossible to achieve in expert
systems, this ability to learn by example is the characteristic of neural networks that makes
them best suited to simulate human behavior. Computer scientists have exploited this system
characteristic to achieve breakthroughs in computer vision, speech recognition, and optical
character recognition. Figure 1 illustrates the knowledge structures of neural networks
as compared to expert systems and standard computer programs. Neural networks restructure
their knowledge base at each step in the learning process.
This paper focuses on neural network technologies which have the potential to increase security
for financial transactions. Much of the technology is currently in the research phase and has
yet to produce a commercially available product, such as visual recognition applications.
Other applications are a multimillion dollar industry and the products are well known, like
Sprint Telephone’s voice activated telephone calling system. In the Sprint system the neural
network positively recognizes the caller’s voice, thereby authorizing activation of his
The study of the brain was once limited to the study of living tissue. Any attempts at an
electronic simulation were brushed aside by the neurobiologist community as abstract conceptions
that bore little relationship to reality. This was partially due to the over-excitement in
the 1950’s and 1960’s for networks t...