Keeping Intruders At Bay With Finger Scanning Technology

A fingerprint scanner is a security device that is used as an identification tool in large corporates as well as in small businesses. A person who uses a fingerprint scanner has to first register his fingerprint on a special scanner. His fingerprint is captured by finger scanner software into a database and recorded as personal information, with a unique identity given to it. When he needs access to secured areas (or equipment) that are protected by fingerprint access systems, he has to submit his fingerprint to the fingerprint security system, which then matches his fingerprints with the ones stored in the database. If the fingerprints match, the person is granted access.

Examples of fingerprint security systems are fingerprint scanner door opener and fingerprint-scanning high-security access zones.

The principle behind a fingerprint scanner

Every human has unique fingerprints and there is no way that two people, not even twins, can have identical fingerprints. Fingerprints are made up of the tiny ridges, peaks and valleys that you can see on your fingertips. These ridges and formations make it easy for you to grip stuff, but the most awesome thing about fingerprint patterns is their formation process.

Three factors go into the formation of fingerprint patterns: the first factor is nature, the second factor is the genetic code, and the third is the environment. All these three factors combine to create a chaotic and ever-changing process that goes in skin formation. The effect is that all fingerprints are unique as these factors are unique for everyone.

Fingerprint scanners are based on this principle. They use technology to record a fingerprint and technology to identify it. The companies making fingerprint scanners reason that if no two fingerprints are ever alike, then a fingerprint security system will be more effective rather than wearing badges or identity cards, which can be easily faked.

Types and technology of fingerprint scanners

The basic function of a fingerprint scanner is recording the ridges and valleys on your fingertips and then figuring out at a later stage, when you present you finger for scanning, whether these ridges and valleys you just impressed on the scanning machine match with the ones you have recorded earlier.

There are two kinds of fingerprint scanners in the market: optical scanners and capacitance scanners. Both do the same thing, but differ on the technology employed. An optical scanner creates a digital impression of your fingerprint using light sensors, while a capacitance scanner grabs your fingerprints using electrical sensors.

A capacitance scanner is considered better than an optical scanner because it gives sharper fingerprint patterns. An optical scanner, on the other hand, may show slightly smudged patterns. Also, a capacitive scanner is more compact than an optical scanner.

Advantages of fingerprint scanners

Fingerprint scanners are more advantageous and superior to other security systems such as identity cards with magnetic strips, or a password-based security systems. Moreover, they are not very expensive, which is why their usage is growing in small businesses. Here are a few of their advantages:

• They are cheap and easy to use.
• Fingerprints are far more harder to fake than identity cards.
• Fingerprints never yield to guesswork like passwords do.
• Unlike identity cards, fingerprints can never be misplaced.
• It is impossible to forget fingerprints, but it is possible to forget passwords.

Disadvantages of fingerprint scanners

It is not as if fingerprint scanners are the ultimate thing in security systems. Just like other gadgets, they too have their disadvantages and vulnerabilities. Here are some of the disadvantages:

• Optical scanners may be cheap, but they aren't always efficient. They cannot always distinguish correctly between a stored fingerprint and an actual fingerprint.
• Capacitance scanners, which recognize fingerprints using electrical impulses, can be fooled by a replica or mold of the finger made out of gelatine or silicone.
• No matter what technology is used, it is not always possible to get a perfect print as some kind of smudging occurs at the scanning stage. If smudging occurs then comparison of two fingerprints, which needs to be absolutely precise, becomes difficult.
• Chopping off someone's finger to gain access through such systems is a horrific thought, but it can happen.
• If a fingerprint identity is stolen from the database, then there's hell to pay, especially if the business is large. The thief can make gelatine or silicone replicas and might be accessing secured parts of the workplace using a stolen identity. And the employee whose fingerprints are stolen just cannot do anything until all his fingerprint copies in the company's servers are destroyed. And once they are destroyed there's no use of a backup too as the employee's fingerprint cannot change and a foolproof copy is out there somewhere.
• A fingerprint database with any company, even though encrypted and secured, is always vulnerable to theft just like any other database.

Tricking a fingerprint scanner

Technology-fooling methods often keep pace with technological developments or advances. The same goes for methods adopted to fool fingerprint scanners. Here is how it could be done:

• An employee can be drugged and made to fall asleep and his finger can be used on the fingerprint scanner. Alternatively, as stated earlier, his finger can be hacked and used.
• An attacker can attempt to modify his own finger by painting, cutting or injuring his own fingertip, so that this matches with a fingerprint in the database. Of course, this is a very difficult thing to do.
• An attacker might try to make a genetic or an artificial clone of a fingerprint. Genetic cloning is very tough to attempt and may be possible at a later date with advances in genetic engineering. However, artificial fingers are easy to make and are in vogue in the attackers' circles. An attacker first steals the fingerprint from the database or from a physical source and then makes an artificial clone of a finger using the fingerprint. The artificial clone is made using gelatin (better known as a gummy finger) or silicone.

To sum up, a fingerprint scanning security system is a good security system to install, in spite of some weaknesses. Technological developments are bound to fine-tune the fingerprint systems and make them more reliable in the days to come. Right now, in order to make a fingerprint security system work efficiently, it will be a good idea to club it with a traditional method of identification, such as a password system.