Fingerprint-Lock Failure in a Prison
So much for high-tech security:
Prison officers have been forced to abandon a new security system and return to the use of keys after the cutting-edge technology repeatedly failed.
The system, which is thought to have cost over £3 million, used fingerprint recognition to activate the locking system at the high-security Glenochil Prison near Tullibody, Clackmannanshire.
After typing in a PIN code, prison officers had to place their finger on a piece of glass. Once the print was recognised, they could then lock and unlock prison doors.
However, problems arose after a prisoner demonstrated to wardens that he could get through the system at will. Other prisoners had been doing the same for some time.
Unfortunately, the article doesn’t say how the prisoners hacked the system. Perhaps they lifed fingerprints off readers with transparent tape. Or perhaps the valid latent fingerprints left on the readers by wardens could be activated somehow.
I would really like some more details here. Does it really make sense to have a tokenless access system in a prison? I don’t know enough to answer that question.
Joseph • September 26, 2005 4:28 PM
It would seem that a token-based system would make much more sense, when you understand that there are a lot of criminals that would happily remove a finger from an unconscious or restrained guard to activate a tokenless system, whereas being able to remove a key from his belt loop gives the guard a better safety margin.