Hitachi finger scanner opens a new vein in biometrics
By Marc Perton 
posted Jun 28th 2005 5:30AM
posted Jun 28th 2005 5:30AM
We're guessing that someone has been watching a few too many
thrillers where the villian has used a spurious technique to fake a
fingerprint (invisible ink, a
meat cleaver to the hand, etc.). How else to explain Hitachi's vein scanner, a biometric security device that scans the
veins in your finger in order to provide secure access to a PC. At $365, this thing is significantly more expensive
than most consumer-level fingerprint scanners, so we hope it really works, and that the bloodless finger created via
the, er, hack mentioned above, doesn't show up as a positive match.
Why do casual, or even regular PC users need such a device? This would be better suited for secret government agencies... :P
- BioChron
I wonder how they tested it for the cut-off finger trick?
With a cadaver hand perhaps.
Then several sessions using known spoofing techniques.
If they are serious enough the testing wouldn't be all that expensive.
#1: Stuff like this is neat for replacing tedious password entry... but yeah, smart cards and USB keys are almost as good for the average schmuck.
what about increased blood flow ? hot cold, might end up getting rejected, very expensive just to log on to you pc with.
I have been using a fingerprint ready on a laptop for about a year and it is great, you can get cheaper devices. On anything that needs a password I can fill in the details, tell the security program to remember it and from then on only have to swipe my finger to get access to anything. Much easier and more secure than PINs and passwords and obviously you would have originally scanned multiple fingers in case of injury. The worry is, the possibility of losing a finger to a really insistent thief, but every system has its flaws. The sensor are getting better, they test the liveliness of the finger as well now, problems like thin skin for mainly people from china and cold climate can suffer from "weak biometrics". There is an intersting discussion forum if you're interested in these technologies. I have been researching biometrics for the last three years, I am a bit disappointed (I think) at how little progress has been made in testing, standards, and implementation. Perhaps everybody working on the problem of biometrics and the airport/Port of Entry problem would be doing most of us a big favour by focusing on the entire problem instead of the technology.
regards
Ray
http://www.thebiometrix.com
http://biometrix.blogspot.com