(no subject)

[akicif]

I had this in my weblog, but it's been suggested that more folk who might enjoy it would see it here:

This is fun. Short short stories by Michael Swanwick tied to the periodic table of the elements (via Lois Fundis in rec.arts.sf.fandom).

Comments

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Hurm. Commenting on your weblog doesn't work for me - Mozilla 0.9.9 under Linux.

Incidentally, biometrics aren't dead - I'd like to see a trick like that for iris codes!

[akicif.livejournal.com]

It's a trick; the comment bit doesn't work for anyone yet... I haven't decided what mechanism to use. And of course, you're quite right about iris codes: the Hollywood approach of magic contact lenses being a complete no-go, I take it?

[akicif.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see a trick like that for iris codes!

Fair enough, there are situations when this won't work, and I suspect that two cameras a slight distance apart might be a lot harder to fool, but...

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Gosh, what a cool hack - thanks for drawing my attention to it!

Iris code readers try and prevent photographic impersonation by detecting the "hippus", a natural 0.5Hz fluctuation of the diameter of the pupil. c't got around that with the hole in the photograph and a real eye behind it - simple and beautiful!

If iris codes become popular, people will find a way to improve the resolution of contact lens printing techniques until they work as forgeries too. And of course, if they're popular then capturing an image of your target's iris becomes that bit easier...

(ref: Section 13.5 of Ross Anderson, Security Engineering)

There are three kinds of authentication: "something you know" (eg passphrases), "something you have" (eg keys, smart cards), and "something you are" (biometrics). For really secure applications, you want to use all three in parallel.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Good stuff - but then again it's Swanwick. Can he put a foot wrong?