[ISN] Lose a Finger, Save The Data

From: InfoSec News (alerts@private)
Date: Sun Jun 17 2007 - 23:04:15 PDT


http://www.networkcomputing.com/channels/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199904746

By Tom LaSusa 
June 15, 2007

In the James Bond movie "Die Another Day," 007 and his gal pal use a bad 
guy's severed hand to trick a biometric scanner into unlocking a room. 
Although it's true Hollywood takes certain liberties with how technology 
is perceived on film (do giant envelopes appear on your computer screen 
when you get e-mail?), the truth is that it's not unheard of for 
criminals to sever someone's fingers to attempt to bypass biometric 
security safeguards. Fortunately, Sony has been working on some 
advancements that will have biometric users clapping (with all digits 
intact).

New Scientist [1] reports that Sony has developed a system that uses 
infrared light to see through the skin and scan a user's unique patterns 
of capillaries. If a criminal attempts to use a severed finger on a 
scanner, it won't work because blood is no longer pumping through it.

Of course that's little comfort for the person who now has trouble 
whistling for a cab in the middle of rush hour. But imagine all the 
laughs they could have when they ask someone to pull their finger.

[1] http://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2007/06/digit-saving-biometrics.html


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