Fingerprint reader at work?

In My Humble Opinion
1

If you could get rid of having to enter passwords for everything you do at work - never have to change the password again - but you would need to log in with a fingerprint reader, would you?

I realize that some people are worried about having fingerprints on file and “big brother” and all that, but for me, I would not mind at all if they installed a fingerprint reader on my machine. One touch and I’m logged in!

How about you?

2

I wouldn’t mind about the storage of my dabs. The fingerprint readers used for this kind of biometrics don’t actually store your fingerprint anyway, just a numerical representation of certain aspects of your fingerprint. You couldn’t use them to definitively place me at the scenes of my crimes like real fingerprints.

The only issue with the kinds of fingerprint readers you’ll find hooked up to an office or home computer is that currently they are trivially easy to spoof.

3

Wouldn’t bother me - FBI’s already got my prints, I’m sure. I had 'em taken when I went to work at a bank as a teller back in the 80’s.

4

Yeah, I’d be concerned about the spoofing possibilities.

5

For the sake of the poll, let us assume that the reader is spoof proof.

(Great link btw, thanks.)

6

Firstly, who is “they”?

7

“They” would be the likes of me - corporate IT staff. We’ve beem lightly messing around with the idea here, but for us, key obstacles are diversity of hardware and scale - over 150,000 employees makes for a lot of fingers to scan and a lot of scanners to buy and install.

If your “shop” (geek-speak for the sort of computers used at a company) is 300 PCs running Windows XP on modern hardware, installation’s not a huge issue. Our shop is everything from genuine IBM 3270 green-screen mainframe dumb terminals on up. Those old terminals don’t even have mice and there’d be no way to connect a scanner to them.

As long as the issues of being able to spoof the things with tape or gummi bears can be addressed, fingerprint scanners are almost always a win-win for IT and users alike.

Users love them as they cut down on the number of passwords they have to remember. IT loves them because the cut down on the number of help desk calls about forgotten passwords. As it is, our corporate help desk fields over 10,000 calls per day - not all of that is passwords, but they’re a significant percentage.

I like the title of that article - Sensors Beaten Senseless. :smiley:

Almost forgot the question - yes, I’d welcome a fingerprint scanner on my PC.

8

Sorry, no can do. These things are notoriously unreliable (besides spoofable). So they have to have a “wide” range of acceptance. Two people whose prints really aren’t all that similar from a technical point of view might be viewed as the same as far as the machine goes. Else it would reject a person simply because of a slight shift in how the finger is pressed on the screen.

They are mirages of security. I don’t go along with such crap. Give the boss a security blanket and a pacifier. Works just as well.

9

Oh. I was thinking much darker, spookier thoughts.

10

I’d be concerned about someone cutting off my finger to use it to log in.

11

I’m sure nobody would oh wait… :eek:

12

I do it every day when I log on the internet terminal at work. Which suits me fine. I have to remember passwords for three classified networks, but I don’t have to worry about remembering my fingers.

13

I wouldn’t have a problem if “they” installed such a thing. They would have to use the right hand though as my left-hand fingertips get torn up from sewing.

14

Forgot to say before that with all of the spoofing issues, fingerprint scanners are better saved for what’s called two-factor authentication. In this case, something you know (a userID/password) and something you are. A likely implementation would be fingerprint + PIN, rather than a full password.

To avoid the spoofs involving tape, candy or theft of fingers, there are scanners that detect bloodflow. They are unfortunately expensive, with costs in the hundreds, rather than $20 after a rebate.

15

I’d have a problem with it. The only time I’ve used a fingerprint-based biometric device was for a locker at a Florida theme park. It wouldn’t recognize my fingerprints when I came back to the locker after the ride, and it took 15 minutes to find a manager to get me into my locker.

I know data is not the plural of anecdote, but by my personal experience the reliability of these devices is zero for one.

16

Actually in my line of work I am dealing with several scanners that are more difficult to spoof than the ones in the article. But in the interest of the poll, I didn’t want to get into a debate about whether they are spoofable or not.

17

I have to preface this by saying that I work for Home Depot. I do not work for the government or any top secret agency.

This is what I have to endure on a daily basis (this is a major complaint of mine so this is gonna be long):

  1. to clock in, I have to enter my ssn into the time clock
  2. to go to lunch I have to enter my ssn into the time clock
  3. to come back from lunch I have to enter my ssn into the time clock
  4. to leave for the day, I have to enter my ssn into the time clock.
  5. to access the computer system, I have to enter my personal username and password.
  6. once in the computer system I have to use the store username and password to access the system which allows me to do just about everything.
  7. in this system, I then have to enter my own username and password to look up an order, to pull up a customer’s name or phone number, to do a markdown, to process a credit card application, to pull up the notes anyone may have left for me. (keep in mind that in order to even get to the point where I can pull up any of this info, I have already entered not only my own username and password but also the store username and password - so why do I have to do it again?)
  8. once in the main system, I can also enter the system to set up a flooring measure. In order to do this, I have to enter my username and password - again.
  9. once in the main system, I can also enter the system to pull up my sales report. In order to do this, I have to enter my username and password - again.

Now, everyone HAS to log out every time they leave a computer. So, if I need to look up a SKU, I have to enter my username and password and the store username and password. Then, in order to go back and help my customer, I have to log out. If the customer wants me to look up another sku, I have to again enter my username and password and the store username and password. God forbid the same customer wants me to look up 3 SKU’s.

If I need to set up a measure:
I enter my username and password
I enter the store username and password
I pull up customer info and then enter my username and password.
I enter the order.
I open another window and enter my username and password to access the measure system so I can actually enter the measure.

If I need to set up a special order (and the customer wants to apply for a credit card):
I enter my username and password
I enter the store username and password
I pull up the customer’s information and then enter my username and password
I enter the order.
I enter my username and password again to access the credit card menu
I submit the application
I enter my username and password again to get back into the order to apply the $50 discount for a new credit card.
I push my computer off the desk and start screeching at the top of my lungs while pulling out my hair and dancing a jig.
So, yes, if Home Depot wants to scan my fingerprint, retina, tongueprint, breath scan, or even spit acidity - they are more than friggen welcome to. I estimate that I probably spend over an hour each day just entering usernames and passwords. Since I have a sales quota/hour to fulfill, I am thinking of demanding that they figure my sales based on 35 hours instead of 40.