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To: longshadow
A what-mathematicians-do-when-they're-not-watering-ferns bump ;)
9 posted on 05/16/2002 11:00:21 PM PDT by general_re
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To: general_re
His more interesting experiment involves latent fingerprints. He takes a fingerprint left on a piece of glass, enhances it with a cyanoacrylate adhesive, and then photographs it with a digital camera. Using PhotoShop, he improves the contrast and prints the fingerprint onto a transparency sheet. Then, he takes a photo-sensitive printed-circuit board (PCB) and uses the fingerprint transparency to etch the fingerprint into the copper, making it three-dimensional. (You can find photo-sensitive PCBs, along with instructions for use, in most electronics hobby shops.) Finally, he makes a gelatin finger using the print on the PCB. This also fools fingerprint detectors about 80% of the time.

Does it occur to anyone that this could be used to fool more than just a secuirty device? He's essentially devised a method by which a person's fingerprint (or fingerprint IMAGE) can be used to create a duplicate "finger" which can then be used to leave YOUR fingerprint wherever someone wants to.

The implications for the judicial system is astounding. Criminal lawyers will have a field day casting doubt about the defendant's fingerprints found at the scene of the crime. Every trial will be another OJ Simpson trial.

Lastly, do you suppose there are a few people at the CIA who are very unhappy that this info is now in the public domain?

12 posted on 05/17/2002 9:00:27 AM PDT by longshadow
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