Monday, December 9, 2019

A ring concept to protect your fingerprint


A ring concept to protect your fingerprint

Potential safeguard: A ring that generates a synthetic fingerprint to unlock devices

It serves as an extension of your digital identity and keeps biometric data private

Consumers increasingly rely on fingerprint and facial scans to unlock their electronic devices. But what happens if their biometric data ends up in the wrong hands?

Antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab has come up with a potential safeguard: A ring that generates a synthetic fingerprint to unlock devices.

The ring is designed to address a key vulnerability with biometric authentication — your face and fingerprints can’t be reset like a password if copies of them are stolen. That might sound farfetched, but earlier this year, a South Korean company was found to be hosting customers’ fingerprint and facial-recognition data in an open online database.

What if
 
The good news is that electronic devices such as smartphones generally store fingerprint or facial data on the hardware itself, not in an online server. But what happens if malware ends up on the electronic device itself? According to Kaspersky, the company has detected spyware capable of stealing biometric data from computers, although the threat is relatively rare.

Try dummy
 
To address the potential risk, Kaspersky Lab wondered if it was possible to create a dummy fingerprint to supplant real ones. The company teamed up with Swedish designer Benjamin Waye to create a ring that houses a 3D-printed rubber stone made from ‘thousands of conductive fibres’ that contain a synthetic fingerprint.

It’s a concept
 
“The ring can be used to authenticate the user with biometric systems, such as a phone or a smart home door lock,” Kaspersky said. Each ring also comes with a unique fingerprint sourced to a software tool. However, the artificial fingerprints are never stored to prevent leaks. For now, the ring is only a concept device meant to bring awareness about the security risks of using biometric authentication. 

Source | Economic Times | 9th December 2019

Regards

Mr. Pralhad Jadhav 
Master of Library & Information Science (NET Qualified) 
Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository  
Khaitan & Co 
Twitter Handle | @Pralhad161978

2 comments:

  1. Very nice blog, Biometric access control systems like fingerprint access control system offer a superior level of security than other access control systems like cards or passwords because biometric readers identify individuals.
    electronic door lock,
    Thanks for sharing such information

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is smartest way to protect fingerprints. Thank you so much for sharing this concept. Really helpful while installing or repairing the door locks. Locksmith Hemel Hempstead is the emergency locksmith service provider.

    ReplyDelete