Biometrics for identification

Biometrics for identification

Posted Apr 4, 2008 17:13 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954)
In reply to: Biometrics for identification by mgh
Parent article: Biometrics for identification

The article implies that some people think a fingerprint is a password, but doesn't give any evidence of it. The idea never occurred to me. Are there security schemes or proposals that assume other people don't know my fingerprints?

I know there are schemes where I'm supposed to put my finger in a scanner and someone could circumvent it just by bypassing the scanner and supplying my fingerprint description. But that's not the same thing. The assumption there is that the data collection is trustworthy, not that nobody but me could know my fingerprint.

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> Are there security schemes or proposals that assume other people don't 
know my fingerprints?

Have you never seen someone who unlocks his or her laptop with a 
fingerprint reader (and no password, i.e. one-factor authentication)? I 
bet that they think this is secure because their fingerprint is just like 
a password. Otherwise it is pretty worthless against semi-interested 
attackers.

I am starting to wonder how many laptops don't have the owner's 
fingerprints right there, on their surface...