August 01, 2005
How to Hack Biometrics
"The grand scheme of it all is that there are several places to attack, the sensor, the feature extractor, the storage computer and the comparison unit. You can also attack communication between these points, be they traces on a circuit board or a network link.
Most systems have a common part or two, there are only a few fingerprint sensor makers out there, and they get repackaged a lot. If there is a vulnerability found in company ABC, you can be pretty sure that company XYZ is also vulnerable because they use the same pieces.
>Related:
A Malaysian businessman has lost a finger to car thieves impatient to get around his Mercedes' fingerprint security system..
..they chopped off the end of his index finger with a machete.
story "Carjackers swipe biometric Merc, plus owner's finger"
~This particular hack isn't discouraging manufacturers from upgrading consumer items with fingerprint scanners. See: "AuthenTec...Ships 5 Millionth Fingerprint Sensor" press release
Posted by Cieciel at August 1, 2005 01:09 AM