Thursday, April 24, 2014

This kind of thing makes fingerprint spoofing even harder

Samsung patent suggests multi-fingerprint e-wallet authentication and gesture control (Android Authority)
Applications for fingerprint scanning are quite limited at the moment...

The future may hold a bigger promise, however. A patent application made by Samsung indicates that the company may be working on an even more innovative use of fingerprint scanning for authentication. In the patent application, Samsung describes several methods for authenticating a purchase, such as through PIN, password, pattern, and even fingerprint scans. An interesting addition is the inclusion of multiple fingers for stronger authentication.
Uncertainty over which fingerprint was used — or in the not too distant future, which combination of fingerprints are used — would go a long way towards making the already difficult task of fingerprint spoofing even harder.