fingerprint login - some issues

Tim ignored_mailbox at yahoo.com.au
Sun Jul 5 13:20:09 UTC 2009


On Sun, 2009-07-05 at 11:05 +0100, Alan Cox wrote:
> You can always make a copy of your fingerprint to use with scanners
> before you cut your finger.

And remember to back up your files before you accidentally delete
them...  Be prepared, as the boy scouts say.

But seriously, I've read about all sorts of things people have done to
fool fingerprint scanners, and seen some of them demonstrated.  I put no
faith in them to protect you when you need it.  And I put no faith in
them to stuff you around when you need access.

It strikes me that you could have some image printed on a keytag, and
swipe that across the scanner, just as effectively as using your finger.
And, unless someone can steal your keys, that'd be a harder image for
someone to surreptitiously copy than your fingerprints (which they can
copy from anything that you've touched).

In all the environments that I've worked in, it'd be an awful lot harder
for someone to nab my keys than my dabs.

-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.27.25-78.2.56.fc9.i686

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