Forged Key Made of Gelatine

Biometric procedures are held to be the ultimate in authentication procedures. However, some currently used fingerprint scanning systems can be outsmarted with very little in the way of technical equipment – as was shown recently by Japanese mathematician Tsutomu Matsumoto.

In his first experiment he prepared a plastic mass of materials commonly available and modeled a finger. The mold he used was filled with gelatine and when the “finger” was finished it had a very useable fingerprint. It was able to outsmart 80 % of the security systems it was used on.

In a second experiment, he visualized a fingerprint on a glass and photographed this using a digital camera. Then, with the help of a PC graphic program, he optimized the print and printed it out on a film before developing it on a commonly available photo-sensitive printed circuit board. On etching this, he obtained a 3-D model which, on molding with gelatine, produced the required fake fingerprint. Again, four out of five security systems were outwitted!

In both cases it was possible to make “genuine” fingerprints with a minimum of technical expertise and equipment. The fake fingerprints in question were able to be easily applied to the finger of the person using it – greetings from James Bond!