Reasons not to use fingerprint authentication

[ewx]

This article, about a women demonstrating that biometrics can be faked (although she got caught in the end), reminded me of this one, which ought to be trotted out any time anyone suggests using fingerprints to protect anything even slightly valuable.

(I read that fingerprints don't match between identical twins, so the other obvious objection to the immigration control system using fingerprints might not stand.)

Comments

[armb.livejournal.com]

It's certainly possible to defeat many sensors like that:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05/16/gummi_bears_defeat_fingerprint_sensors/
http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/11/play-doh-fingers-can-fool-90-of-scanners-sez-clarkson-u/
(And http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20051212/110218.shtml has a comment from someone who did it with latex)

But as ewx said, it might be harder to fool the immigration officers watching.

[fanf]

I was thinking of a layer on top of a real finger, not a whole fake finger :-) The silly putty plus latex method sounds like a plausible way of doing it.

[armb.livejournal.com]

I was assuming that too, but it probably wouldn't be trivial to make such a layer both robust and inconspicuous.