Microsoft Fingerprint Reader a Security Threat
Identity TheftMicrosoft’s Fingerprint Reader, a PC authentication device that Microsoft has been shipping since September 2004. A security researcher with the Finnish military has shown how they could steal your fingerprint by taking advantage of a vulnerability in the Fingerprint Reader. Microsoft has never promoted the device as a security device, only as a tool to prevent unauthorized people from logging into your computer. The researcher was intrigued by a caveat about sensitive data Microsoft included with the device. This prompted Finnish military researcher, Mikko Kiviharju, took a closer look at the product. He presented his findings at the Black Hat Europe conference last week, he reported that because the fingerprint image taken by the scanner is not encrypted, it could be stolen by hackers and used to inappropriately log in to a computer. Due to the transfer of the fingerprint in an unencrypted format the transfer could be stolen using various hardware or software technologies like sniffers.
Kiviharju’s report: [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
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