Security at Your Fingertips - Inside Science

Reported May 2006

BACKGROUND: Spoofing is when individuals test a biometric security system by introducing a fake sample. This can help companies improve those systems in order to better protect their information and employees. The goal is to make the authentication process as accurate and reliable as possible.

HOW IT WORKS: Digits from cadavers and fake fingers molded from plastic, play dough or gelatin, can potentially be misread as authentic by biometric security systems. Electrical and computer engineers are addressing this issue by trying to spoof such systems in hopes of designing more effective safeguards and countermeasures. One such study found a 90-percent false verification rate when the scanning machines could not distinguish between a live sample and a fake one. The system was then modified to detect the pattern of perspiration from a live finger, which reduced the false verification rate to less than 10 percent.

WHAT ARE BIOMETRICS: Biometrics is the science of using biological properties such as fingerprints, an iris scan, or voice recognition to identify individuals. These unique signatures can be used to authenticate or determine identity. Biometric security systems are growing in popularity, popping up in hospitals, banks, even college residence halls to authorize or deny access to medical files, financial accounts, or restricted areas.

ABOUT FINGERPRINTS: A fingerprint is an imprint made by the pattern of ridges on the pad of a human finger, believed to provide traction for grasping objects. When someone touches something with his fingers, he leaves behind a residue of the touched surface in the pattern of that fingerprint. Brushing the surface with a finely ground powder like chalk or coal can make the print visible because the powder adheres to the residue but not the surrounding surface. Invisible prints are called latent prints; there are other chemical techniques to make those visible. The arch, the loop and the whorl are the three basic patterns of a fingerprint, which can be broken down into other classifications. A person's fingerprints are believed to be unique. The practice of comparing fingerprints -- such as those found at the crime scene to those of a suspect -- is called dactyloscopy. The FBI maintains a large database of more than 49 million fingerprint records for known criminals.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Stephanie Schuckers, Ph.D.
Electrical and Computer Engineer
Clarkson University
(315) 268-6536
sschucke@clarkson.edu

For more information about engineering:

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IEEE-USA
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202
Washington, D.C. 20036-5104
(202) 785-0017
ieeeusa@ieee.org
http://www.ieee.org

DID YOU KNOW...

Biometrics comes from the ancient Greek word bio, which means life, and metron, which means measure.