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Lose a Finger, Save The Data

Posted by Tom LaSusa on June 15, 2007

In the James Bond movie "Die Another Day," 007 and his gal pal use a bad guy's severed hand to trick a biometric scanner into unlocking a room. Although it's true Hollywood takes certain liberties with how technology is perceived on film (do giant envelopes appear on your computer screen when you get e-mail?), the truth is that it's not unheard of for criminals to sever someone's fingers to attempt to bypass biometric security safeguards. Fortunately, Sony has been working on some advancements that will have biometric users clapping (with all digits intact).

New Scientist reports that Sony has developed a system that uses infrared light to see through the skin and scan a user's unique patterns of capillaries. If a criminal attempts to use a severed finger on a scanner, it won't work because blood is no longer pumping through it.

Of course that's little comfort for the person who now has trouble whistling for a cab in the middle of rush hour. But imagine all the laughs they could have when they ask someone to pull their finger.

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