Why fingerprint based biometric systems are bad for you..

Biometric systems are the coolest thing in security technology at the moment, and there are plenty of cheap development kits available from a variety of vendors, but regardless of the convenience of not having to remember passwords, there are many reasons why fingerprint based biometric systems are bad. Here are five scary reasons:

1. You need to use your bare finger, which is not a good idea if you are trying to open your car door in a freezing cold place, or if you are a germ-phobe. (well, that's probably not so bad, but we're just getting started..)


2. They can be easily defeated by using a combination of photoshop and gummy bears.


3. Your fingerprint can be stolen with far less effort than it takes to get your alphanumeric password. Every time you touch an object you are leaving your biometric 'password' behind.


4. It's like chaining a suitcase to your hand. If someone wants the suitcase badly, they might just chop your hand off. If you are using a biometric security system, then some limb/organ of yours is in peril, as this gentleman in Malaysia found out.


5. If you use a biometric system in addition to a regular password/card based system, then you get the added convenience of the biometric system, but you also get the security risks mentioned above. If you use a purely biometric system, then you risk getting locked out of your entry system forever if you ever lose the ability to use that limb/organ due to an accident.

Feel free to add your own..

Tags: biometric, security, fingerprint