Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

[Mega]

Apple thinks so:-

I think this is the start of a new tec line, for sure very soon ALL laptops,tablets & phones will be finger-scan. However if a few hundred $ worth of iphone can be finger-scan/GPS/remote Stundown why can't a car...........ANY car.

I worry about some scumbag trying to chop off a finger to use as a key.........you have to have a type of scanner that wouldn't work if your finger was no longer attached to you...

Lo-jack (Tracker in the UK) say they find 95% of cars taken........that means 95% of low life whom are not pro's.

But what about credit cards?.....or alarms/House locks.........BIG market coming?

Mike

[c1ue]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

Fingerprint readers were a horrendous failure in the laptop market.

It will be interesting to see how well they hold up in the iDevices.

The failure in the laptop market was because the software was so unreliable that the fingerprint readers actually made it easier to crack laptop security. On a touch screen iDevice - I wonder just how secure they will be with the user's fingerprints already all over the screen.

[lektrode]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

Fingerprint readers were a horrendous failure in the laptop market.

It will be interesting to see how well they hold up in the iDevices.

The failure in the laptop market was because the software was so unreliable that the fingerprint readers actually made it easier to crack laptop security. On a touch screen iDevice - I wonder just how secure they will be with the user's fingerprints already all over the screen.

snort!!!
heheheheh...

well... as usual mr c1ue, yer spot on with that one - my new HP has the finger thingy and decided that - like my brand spankin new iphone - i WONT be trading convenience for 'security' (or is it the other way round...)

can hardly wait to see/read about all the horror stories about/from people who use their fones as 'wallets' (or boarding passes)...
and/or keep every scrap of their personal identifiable info on em...

and then leave it in the restroom as they dash to the gate after hearing 'final boarding call for flt# 909'
to someplace 4or5 timezones away...

[LorenS]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

My laptop fingerprint reader worked about 70%, but one good ESD event and it was toast. I came in on a winter day, took off my fleece and went to log in to my laptop. ZAP - no more fingerprint reader.

At 24 Hour fitness they have fingerprint readers to sign in. They are fairly reliable, but there is a box of goop next to them for folks who are having trouble.

Biometrics won't be the next BIG thing IMHO because they are already pretty well entrenched (you could buy a bio home safe 5 years ago), and aren't big and probably won't be - at least revenue wise. Look at TPMS in cars (tire pressure measurement systems) - it's a big thing, every new car has 4 of them, they're selling boat loads of replacements because the junky things don't last - but they are cheap.

There is probably already an app that can use a current smart phone camera to read a finger print. A temp sensor could be used to at least make sure the finger is close to body temp, but fingers are an extremity and they do get cold. A combo VO2/fingerprint reader would be a good combo for making sure the finger is "alive", but then you need access to both sides of the finger.

[Mega]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24021072
Mike

[c1ue]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

My laptop fingerprint reader worked about 70%, but one good ESD event and it was toast.

That is interesting.

You'd think the mini-scanner used would not be subject to ESD, but then again there is probably a sensor of some type to tell when a finger (or something!) is actually pressed to the scanner.

My own experience wasn't involved with hardware failure - but I did experiment to see just how rigorous the scanner was.

It wasn't.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

That is interesting.

You'd think the mini-scanner used would not be subject to ESD, but then again there is probably a sensor of some type to tell when a finger (or something!) is actually pressed to the scanner.

My own experience wasn't involved with hardware failure - but I did experiment to see just how rigorous the scanner was.

It wasn't.

I did some work with biometrics some years ago and, at least for consumer products, one of the biggest problems with biometrics is that costs have to be kept down resulting in a product that is prone to false positives or false negatives. As some of the other posts in this thread mention, a good fingerprint reader has to look at more than just the fingerprint to safeguard against attempts to fake-out the system. Some of the features that a high-end fingerprint reader may have to counter fake fingerprints are a resistivity sensor, a pulse detector, or a temperature sensor.

It's highly unlikely that any of those features are going to exist in a fingerprint reader that retails for less than $50 and wholesales for about $10.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

I worry about some scumbag trying to chop off a finger to use as a key.........you have to have a type of scanner that wouldn't work if your finger was no longer attached to you...

When using fingerprints as a form of identification, it is common to register multiple fingers with the authentication system in the event you have an injury to a finger or a fingerprint changes. So, even if you were to lose a finger, one of your other fingers can be used to authenticate you.

As for severing fingers, consumer-grade biometric systems are unreliable enough that there is always a password bypass option. I'm pretty sure that faced with the threat of having one's finger severed, a rational person would divulge his password.

[Mega]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

I think your find they made a bit of a break though with this reader..........BTw Bloomberg is running a lot of story time on Biometrics today........inclunding a British firm that scans you wrist and looks at your veins.........very fast, can't be fooled 100% time after time............biometric car sytems ARE coming
Mike

[c1ue]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

I'm pretty sure that faced with the threat of having one's finger severed, a rational person would divulge his password.

As you note - one key vulnerability of these systems is the software. Why bother hacking the hardware side when all that is necessary is to corrupt the verification side? In the reader on my laptop - that file wasn't even write protected.

[shiny!]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

I think your find they made a bit of a break though with this reader..........BTw Bloomberg is running a lot of story time on Biometrics today........inclunding a British firm that scans you wrist and looks at your veins.........very fast, can't be fooled 100% time after time............biometric car sytems ARE coming
Mike

Now that's interesting. A lot of people with CFIDS/ME lose their fingerprints. Mine are disappearing and are almost completely gone on some of my fingers. I could have a great career in crime if I wasn't so tired.

It'd be funny to have a fingerprint requirement challenged in court by people without fingerprints.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

I think your find they made a bit of a break though with this reader..........BTw Bloomberg is running a lot of story time on Biometrics today........inclunding a British firm that scans you wrist and looks at your veins.........very fast, can't be fooled 100% time after time............biometric car sytems ARE coming
Mike

This looks very interesting and it seems to me that it would be very difficult to fake out. The question, though, is how much such a biometric reader going to cost? As I stated above, the problem with inexpensive biometric readers is they are very prone to false positives/negatives. If this new technology costs $10,000 per unit, it would have to compete against existing fingerprint, hand geometry, retina, etc. systems that are quite good and have substantial usage data on them.

[Mega]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

$300
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/24/nec...combo-scanner/
Mike

[shiny!]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

$300
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/24/nec...combo-scanner/
Mike

That article is almost 2-1/2 years old. Where are they?

[Mega]

Re: Biometrics.........the next BIG thing?

All we need is ONE car producer to use it...........insurance company will reduce the costs because the car is MUCH harder to steal..........& Bingo.
Mike