Gummi Bear Proof Biometric Time and Attendance Systems

A recent article on ZDnet.com.au (Sweet bypass for student finger scanner) suggests that students at a NSW high school may be able to cheat the school’s new biometric attendance system using lunch box lollies.

Henry Kendall High School, on the NSW Central Coast, recently made the decision to replace the school's manual sign-in system with biometric fingerprint scanners to accurately record senior student attendance.

School Principal, Bob Cox, told the ABC that the biometric system was preferred over swipe cards, which students can abuse by signing-in for each other.

But biometric systems are not without their own flaws, and as Darren Pauli from ZDnet advises “a litany of fingerprint scanners have fallen victim to bypass methods, many of which are explained publicly in detail on the internet”. He adds that, “the hacks could potentially be used by students to make replicas of their own fingerprints, or lift those of others from imprints left on the reader".

To add further fuel to the fire, Pauli refers to Tsutomu Matsumoto, a Japanese cryptographer who, “used gelatine, the ingredient in Gummi Bears, to forge a replica finger that fooled 11 fingerprint scanners during tests in 2002. Gelatine has virtually the same capacitance as a finger's skin, meaning it can fool scanners designed to detect electrical charges within the human body”.

However, while it has been proven that conventional biometric readers can be circumvented, there have been some serious advancements in biometric technology since Matsumoto’s 2002 tests.

Multi-spectral imaging sets the new benchmark in Biometrics. Pioneered by Lumidigm, multi-spectral imaging technology was developed to overcome the fingerprint capture problems conventional imaging systems have in less-than-ideal conditions.

By measuring fingerprint characteristics that are at and beneath the surface of the skin, this enhanced data capture mitigates traditional system vulnerabilities and flaws, eliminating common real world performance problems that occur when users can’t enrol on standard fingerprint devices, which often leads to user frustration, an increase in system costs, lower productivity and can breed resistance to universal biometric technology adoption.

Mitrefinch Australia have recently partnered with Lumidigm, and are now integrating their superior imaging technology into all their biometric time and attendance systems.

"The integration of Lumidigm technology greatly enhances the overall application of Mitrefinch's biometric time and attendance solutions", said Allan Murdoch, Mitrefinch Australia Business Development Director. “The robustness of the Lumidigm sensor allows our customers to have a biometric solution in environments where standard fingerprint readers were not previously feasible.”

Commenting on the partnership, Lumidigm’s Director of Business Development, Seth Miller, said, “Mitrefinch was quick to understand the value of Lumidigm technology and incorporate it into their advanced customer solutions. Time and attendance is an important market for Lumidigm and Mitrefinch is an excellent partner in that space”.

For more information on this new wave of biometric time and attendance technology contact Mitrefinch Australia on 1300 884 831 or visit www.mitrefinch.com.au