May 2

Stealing a Mercedes

If the news that fingerprint scanners can be defeated weren’t bad enough, how’s this for an evil spin on things: According to an Australian news.com story, a Malaysian man lost not only his Mercedes S-Class — equipped with a fingerprint recognition security system — but also the tip of his index finger to a gang of car thieves.

That reminds me of an episode of Alias I saw a couple of weeks back, where Flinkman needed to get one of the bad guys to let him into an area that was secured with a retina scanner. Marshall accidentally shot & killed the bad guy, and since all he needed was an eyeball, he dug it out with a spork (on the second try, no less!) and used the eyeball to bypass the security system.

Just goes to show that if someone wants something badly enough, they’ll get it, no matter how sophisticated the lock you use to secure it.

by Dave   May 2, 2005 8:13 AM   |
  tags: 
Biometric Security, Fingerprint Reader

Comments

by Joe,   May 2, 2005 9:00 AM  

Another good reason why I want my passwords in my head, not on my body: At least they have to keep me alive until they get the password, and that's at least a little leverage.

by Brian,   May 2, 2005 9:57 AM  

You only have to remember about 3 passwords, which is what I do and it works pretty well. KEY to success, tell NO ONE and NEVER write it down.

Bank Password: at least 8 char upper/lower/digits Shopping Password: at least 6 chars whatever you like Disposable Password used for anything that requires registration not related to important things.

All this finger cutting stuff is not really new. In the movie Demolition Man they did the same thing using an eye. However I don't believe the eye plucking will work as the scan is looking at the blood lines. If it is plucked that will all get screwed up. The missing finger however will still be usable.

I'll just keep my password typing for now thanks!

by Dave,   May 2, 2005 11:36 AM  

Another thing that I've always wondered is if the retina scanners will work on either eye or just one... it would be logical that there would be a discernible difference between the right and left eyes. I suppose a system could be set up to verify on either eye if there was a difference.

by david,   May 8, 2005 3:03 PM  

All this makes me glad I don't own anything worth stealing

by Paul,   September 30, 2005 1:53 PM  

Been done before. Remember Demolition Man with Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone? Snipes played an ultra-bad guy who excapes from a high-security prison. One way to get out? He has to cut out the eyeball of one of the administrators to do a retinal scan. It was a truly creepy scene.

Add Comment

Want to advertise on this site? Contact FM.
Web Hosting Web hosting, dedicated servers and Web design services
Laser Toner Cartridges UK laser toner, toner cartridges, hp toner, lexmark toner, samsung toner, canon, toner, epson toner, oki toner, kyocera toner, xerox toner, remanufactured toner, compatible toner
Direct TV Deals Free 4 room direct tv deals. no equipment to buy. free fast professional direct tv installation. this is the best direct tv deal available anywhere.
SEO Article Learn from the experts with our SEO article.
rope light Shopping with birddog distributing, inc., gives you access to the lowest prices, the best customer service and the quickest delivery times possible.
Laptop AC Adapter We offer genuine factory direct replacement AC adapters.
Direct TV Best satellite TV deals.
Direct TV Deals Direct TV programming deals are varied and include packages containing from 50 channels up to over 250 channels.
8mm film to DVD Retain family memories with the only frame by frame digital restoration service in the United States for your 8mm film to DVD today
Rubber Stamp Shop for custom self-inking stamps, hand stamps, address stamps, label stamps, check endorsement stamps, check deposit stamps, date stamps, pre inks, pocket stamps, ink and much more!