Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Wed, 19 Jun 2002 13:30:56 -0500
From:      "Eric F Crist" <ecrist@adtechintegrated.com>
To:        "'twig les'" <twigles@yahoo.com>, "'graham'" <graham@avint.net>, <freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   RE: Password security (my final post on this particular thread)
Message-ID:  <004101c217bf$74a26f70$77fe180c@armageddon>
In-Reply-To: <20020619171922.48193.qmail@web10103.mail.yahoo.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
It's apparent that this conversation could go on forever.  It is also
apparent that Ryan Thompson (original poster) is in search of a 100%
fool proof method of authentication, which all of us know doesn't exist.
Basically, we all seem to have come to the consensus that:

1) Password security is not perfect due the inability of most
people/users of data networks to remember and conjure up difficult,
complex, or hard to guess passwords.

2) Biometrics is not a fool proof method of authentication and there are
ways to trick these devices.

3) The generally agreed upon method for the most secure method of
authentication over a seemingly insecure data network would be to
combine a multitude of different technology, all dependent on each
other.

Eric F Crist
President/Sys Admin
AdTech Integrated Systems, Inc
http://www.adtechintegrated.com


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG
[mailto:owner-freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG] On Behalf Of twig les
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 12:19 PM
To: graham; freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: Password security


--- graham <graham@avint.net> wrote:
> It's alot easier to fool Biometrics than you think.
> I saw an episode of @discovery on The Discovery
> Channel's Canadian channel
> explaining how a mathematician and some grad
> students could fool all the current
> commercial biometric systems with common household
> items available from any
> supermarket. But I don't fully remember the details
> of that paticular episode.
> 
> 


I don't doubt it (although I missed the special), but
I don't know anyone who advocates the use of
biometrics as the sole method of authentication (US
airport security aside...).  Most of the time I've
used them you either needed a badge with it, or a
badge/PIN combo.  The addition of biometrics to a
badge or badge/PIN combo -even if it was tuned to give
more false positives than negatives- makes a huge
difference.

So what interests me is could these guys beat the
handprint reader WHILE they have a stolen/forged
smartcard AND someone's PIN code (all matching the
same person of course)?  If they can do that then my
hat is off to them and they should be Sneakers 2.

=====
-----------------------------------------------------------
Only fools have all the answers.
-----------------------------------------------------------

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-security" in the body of the message


To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-security" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?004101c217bf$74a26f70$77fe180c>