Subject: Re: 2 Where is the Silver Bullet?

From: Tony Bartoletti <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 11:10:36 -0800

At 01:41 AM 3/25/99 -0000, you wrote:
>The URL was bad.  resent
>
>http://www.mobilephones-tng.com/papers/idcards.html#READ_AND_WEEP
>>
>>>3) The absolute critical function to integrity protect the capture data
>>>between the capture device and the comparing algorithm, and the equally
>>>critical function to authenticate and integrity protect pre stored data
>>>used by the comparing algorithm.
>>
>
>
>Tony,
>bio-metrics behave as you say.
>
>Should I interpret your views as:  We should continue forever with
>easily faked ID-cards with ordinary photos.  Or should we stop
>using ID-cards (passports) as well?
>
>Or do you have another "silver bullet"?
>
>Just wondering a bit
>
>best regards
>Anders

Anders,

Actually, the "best" solution is to require a panoply of identification
methods, and find (or fail to find) coherence among the results.  Granted,
this is a multi-transaction, multi-path, high-bandwidth solution.

When you walk down a street in a strange town, and see someone you think
that you recognise, you apply a wide range of "checks" in ascertaining
the accuracy of the identification.  The face seems the same, but they
are too tall/short.  Or you speak to them, and they sound/don't-sound
familiar.  Or you ask them some questions, and they know/don't know
the answers.  I feel that identification should be based upon such a
methodology (and damn the bandwidth).

I am especially concerned that by seeking a "magic bullet" (a short and
simple piece of data that in itself represents the "final word", we are
actually decreasing security, and producing a system more fragile and
more easily targeted by fraudsters.

Curiously, a photo is in some ways superior to fingerprints or retina.
I imaging it just a bit more difficult to "look like" someone else,
especially to familiar companions (and perhaps future neural-net
processors), and yet my face (for instance) is hardly something
that I can consider to be held secret or non-public.

Regards,

___tony___

Tony Bartoletti                                             LL
Center for Information Operations and Assurance          LL LL
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory                LL LL LL
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