They're getting smaller, too. Fingerprint Identification
Recognition Devices
Simple to implement, even easier to use,
Fingerprint Identification methods could
be your key to the absolute security of
your Laptop or Desktop
• January 26, 2001 •
Our last article on Facial Recognition software pointed out that although
it is available to implement as a security feature on your system, it
really isn't too great of an idea if it can be easily defeated through a
little ingenuity.
Fingerprint Identification devices, however, are very
secure and can be applied to almost any computing
device from your telephone or PDA to your desktop
computer.
Fingerprint Identification has been around for
decades. It is not only fairly fool-proof, but
fingerprint identification devices can be installed so
that a fingerprint is required before your computer
will be even be permitted to boot up for optimal
security advantages.
New Laptop or Desktop computers can be purchased with Fingerprint
Identification capability already built in or you can separately purchase
the software and choose from a variety of fingerprint reading devices to
easily upgrade your existing computer or network.
Fingerprint Identification methods that employ "minutiae based
processing identification algorithms" are the most secure to use. They
offer additional security the original fingerprints themselves are not
stored anywhere on a network or computer system where an intruder
could access them.
What is stored and recorded for reference are a sufficient number of
specific points of importance about a fingerprint, called "minutiae" that
are unique to an individual fingerprint and permit it to be recognized and
allow the user admittance onto a system.
Getting a large number of fingerprints properly recorded to enable
secure access under less than optimal conditions may occasionally
prove difficult under certain circumstances.
Fingerprint reading devices that rely solely upon
capacitive sensors to capture and accurately
detect the ridges and valleys of a fingerprint are
fine in an office environment. However, such
sensors may have difficulty properly identifying a
dirty fingerprint or an elderly person's fingerprint
that changes due to the laxity of the skin.
To reduce the potential difficulty in
recognizing and identifying all users'
fingerprints, readers utilizing RF signals
combined with improved optics and smaller
capture areas are available for consideration
in situations where their improved capabilities
would might be needed.
The smaller fingerprint readers can easily be used with PDA's (Personal
Digital Assistants) as well as telephones to laptops and desktops.
Most fingerprint readers start at around a $100 per computer to install,
and a complete upgrade takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish
to complete.
The bundled fingerprint identification software often permits the user to
register two or more fingerprints should someone slice their finger on a
bagel some morning before work -- they could just use the alternate
finger to gain access to their computer.
Fingerprint identification is the most secure option if you are considering
a Biometric means of securing your computer or network.
Efforts to unify and standardize fingerprint identification methods are
being developed by the BioAPI group which has already succeeded in
merging the old HA-API specification into the newest BioAPI
specification version 1.0 for fingerprint identification software and
devices.
Employing fingerprint identification devices on your
existing computer, laptop, PDA or telephone offers
personalized security measures that are certainly
attractive. If you decide to upgrade, be sure that the
fingerprint software you choose to buy and install
prohibits a non-user from attempting to circumvent a
required fingerprint by simply detaching your
components and installing their own mouse or
keyboard to gain access your computer.