Security screens show biometrics not skin deep.

• Author: Pappalardo, Joe
• Position: SECURITY BEAT - Brief Article

Use of optical scans to identify people is well known. A less popular method uses near-infrared light to obtain an image of the blood vessel pattern in the finger. The system is said to be as accurate as a fingerprint.

Matched with images from employees, and meshed with a security code, duplication of the internal pattern is nearly impossible to duplicate, even with a severed finger, according to iaccess Systems Inc., which sells the technology.

The technique echoes identification methods that recognize blood vessel patterns in the retina, a system that ranks as one of the oldest forms of biometrics. In the 1930s, researchers suggested that the patterns of blood vessels on the back of the human eye were unique to each person. Using that technology for a finger...