The downside to using a biometric car lock
By Peter Rojas 
posted Mar 31st 2005 2:24PM
posted Mar 31st 2005 2:24PM
Turns out there is a very unfortunate downside to using a biometric fingerprint scanner to lock and unlock
your car doors: when thieves want to steal your car they'll simply cut off the necessary digit and go to town. Which is
exactly what happpened to an accountant in Malaysia by the name of K Kumaran who was accosted by four men who wanted
his Mercedes S-Class, forcing him to use his finger to start the car up and then tied him up in the back seat. So far,
so good, but later, after they discovered that they couldn't restart the car, they decided to cut off his index finger
with a machete and abscond with the vehicle, leaving him naked and bleeding by the side of the road.
[Thanks, ericke]
Can't afford a Mercedes S-Class, do I need to worry too? Noh!
I wonder... I assume your fingerprints are normally all over the door and so. So, it more or less compares to the carkey that has it's image spray painted over the whole car.
If you want to read a fictional account of what happens when you use the more "secure" retina scan, read Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons..."
Oww Fuck Shit.
The car already costs you an arm and a leg.
to: #3
Or just see 'Demolition Man' and Mr. Snipes will show you the way...
to: #4
LOL! Very amusing pun.
I used to work for a biometric security company. Its extremely unlikely, especially for newer readers since most require the thumb to be at ..ummm...body temperature.
I was going to say the same thing as #5, but that's only true if the thief knows that, too. I'd rather save my thumb than my car.
To #6: Nuke the finger for 20 seconds, it should warm up.
#6
maybe they keept the thumb... body temperature by putting the "finger" well... nevermind
disgusting
This was truly a "well, duh" waiting to happen. We Car Wars players have been doing this since the '80s.
owww. why shit always happens to new technology.. well its an accident... i hope he's fine now... not gonna happen always... well they'd use keys which have ic's like simcards so that after that much security only keys are stolen not our fingers.. n we can finger the thieves later on.
i was thinkin about this today while reading my science papers *snap*
i was thinkin abt demolition man too
To #6 Jeff
Wouldn't holding the thumb in your hand for 1 min make it close to body temperature.
If they're planning to part it, why need to take thumb with them. I wonder how those thieves plan to sell the car, "Enjoy the car, here's the thumb."?
Perhaps some good instructions in the manual about reseting the fingerprint lock is in order.
Hey dude...Let me make it lock to YOUr fingerprint.
It'd be like a lucky rabbits foot. They should just attach the finger to a keychain. Good conversation starter...
Thanks #12: "Enjoy the car, here's the thumb."
I just cleaned spittle off this monitor and NOW it needs to be done again.
And when the finger started to go rotten what did they do? Oh... wait for the cops to show up because it's a damn expensive car that has fingerprint technology which is also bound to have some sort of tracking device.
Don't some more sophisticated fingerprint readers also check for actual blood flow/pulse in the finger? That would be a lot more difficult to fake in a severed digit than approximate body temperature.
#18, you're right, the newer fingerprint scanners are designed to get around this:
" reads signals that bounce off skin when fingers are placed on a surface embedded with electric conductors. It first applies "an AC voltage with a variable frequency to at least one electric conductor," Marksteiner writes. The system then records the frequency of electric resistance and conductivity, and the time intervals between each one. Those signals generate a pattern, which he describes as curved in shape....This characteristic curve shape can be faked or simulated only with difficulty when using an artificial finger," Marksteiner writes. "In the case of a cut-off finger, the curve shape changes rapidly as a result of the skin tissue dying off."
http://www.senseme.com/scripts/articles/articles11.htm
And to #4, #8 and #13--damn that was almost too funny...!
To: #17 , #13
Most stolen cars (the majority ?) are chopped up and sold as parts. I've read (so take the figures with a grain of salt) that a $25K to $30K car can be sold in parts for about $200K. (so imagine what an even more expensive car could bring). So being able to start and drive the car may not be too important after the car is safely stashed where it can be dismantled.
Also to #13: HAHAHAHAHAHA!
As for re-heating the thumb, just dunk it in your chili...
Oops! Didn't read your post correctly #13. You aparently considered the parting option. Apologies...
Maybe they just didn't want to take the owner (or at least, most of him) with them when they drove the car to their chop shop.
" I've read (so take the figures with a grain of salt) that a $25K to $30K car can be sold in parts for about $200K."
That sounds like a misquote or quite a hyperbole. If this were the case, I could make a decent living by buying cars legitimately and selling them as parts... What I've heard is that if one were to build a car from spare parts, it'll cost a lot more than just buying the whole car, which sounds true but it's not necessarily reciprocal.
Anyway, thieves sell their loot as spare parts because it's easier and safer than trying to sell the whole cars outright. Most of the parts don't have recorded serial numbers that can be tracked, and the transactions are small enough that nobody bothers to check.
Like I said, take it with a grain of salt. The article I read (or was it something I saw/heard on 60 minutes a couple years ago?) may have been refering to a specific car or something...I honestly don't remember (or I could be remembering it incorrectly)...
I'm from Malaysia and I'm not suprised this happened. This guy would have been better off with a car GPS/GSM tracking system.
a malaysian dj joked... "brings new meaning to thumbdrive"
Malaysia boleh!
#26 Just used a patriotic statement as sarcasm. FYI, we do it quite frequently.
This is exactly what I've got against biometrics.
Even IF the device is smart enough to check for a pulse, then the criminal is only going to find out AFTER they remove the body part.
And if they need you alive, you run the risk of being kidnapped for a very long time.
I have to use my finger to get the wife going too....
Even without biometric locks on my car, I still cary a can of mace and a knife that's just barely legal. I don't make it obvious that I carry either one, and I don't joke about using them. But put me in a situation where I think I need to defend myself and It's gonna really sting. Of course I'll save the knife for if the mace doesn't work but I'm willing to use both.
30. Posted Apr 1, 2005, 2:57 AM ET by Mark H
Even without biometric locks on my car, I still cary a can of mace and a knife that's just barely legal. I don't make it obvious that I carry either one, and I don't joke about using them. But put me in a situation where I think I need to defend myself and It's gonna really sting. Of course I'll save the knife for if the mace doesn't work but I'm willing to use both.
Mark I don't know where you call home but If you ever decide to visit Los Angeles make sure you don't take the wrong Fwy exit and end up in the wrong part of town if you know what I mean because I can assure you that your little can of mace and your "knife that's just barely legal" won't save your ass from being jacked @ gun point.
" I still cary a can of mace and a knife that's just barely legal."
I too have knife that I keep in the car. It's got sheepsfoot blade in case I ever need to cut the seatbelt. I've also got an assisted opening drop point that goes everywhere I do for general utilitarian purposes (yes...even the airport...but the blade gets 'checked'...). I don't think I'd want to try to defend myself from the seat of my car with either knife (as mentioned, guns are probably the most common accessory for car jackings and...you know...'never bring a knife to a gun fight' - Unless you've got a gun as well)...nor would I want to spray mace in an enclosed environment such as, again, my car.
Not a criticism...just some things to think about...
I drive such cheap cars I doubt anyone would want to steal them anyway, but if I had the bling for a biometricly secured vehicle and I thought I needed some EXTRA protection, I'd go for the flamethrower system.
'Course, that wouldn't stop anyone from hitting me on the way TO my car, taking keys, cards, limbs, what have you and then driveing away completely oblivious to the flamethrowers presence...and it would be mighty embarassing to trigger that thing by accident at a drive-through window, or when pulled over for a traffic violation...
I'll jump on the pun bandwagon:
These guys sure know how to 'thumb' a ride...
How's about we use our pinkies insteadof our thumbs? I want my thumb for sure, I can afford to lose two pinkies.... Useless pinky.
I wonder what hurt him the most, to loose his thumb or to loose his car :P
Sorry for the sarcasm ;)
Biometrics, like locks, are mostly a deterent. If there are easier targets out there, most theives would go for them. There are extreme cases when they dont go the easy route but that just happens like anything else. Does it mean you dont TRY to deter theft? Hell no.
Realistically, he's lucky they just took a thumb. People get killed for much less.
Brings a whole new meaning to getting a spare key cut...