Dear Dr Naicken,
At 07:55 23-09-2015, Stephen Naicken wrote:
>Due to collagen depletion, skin elasticity decreases with age, which
>can increase the difficulty of reading a fingerprint [1].
Yes.
>Have there been any announcements regarding future applications? Some
>word argue that some of the most pressing problems in Mauritius can
>not be solved by the use of a biometric smart card.
There is an interesting article in today's edition of the the
Financial Times [1][2] about Mauritius. The article might provide a
glimpse of the challenges which lie ahead.
There hasn't been any announcement regarding future
applications. The smart card could have been used to alleviate some
administrative processes. Although that would not solve some of the
most pressing problems in Mauritius it could have a noticeable
difference for the everyday person. The problem at the moment is
that the smart card issue created a legal swamp.
>Indeed, a known key derivation algorithm alone would not result in an
>insecure system - that is Kerckhoff's principle [2] holds. That said,
>some argue for obscurity as a layer [3].
My comment is unrelated to the topic. Some approaches used in the
1990s are no longer viable nowadays. For example, it is now possible
with commonly-available hardware and software to identify unsecured
systems on a global basis. Some security issues (outside the island)
are bad for one's career as someone will eventually find the
issue. On the island, an "expert" might be able to argue for
obscurity as people are not used to peer reviews.
Regards,
S. Moonesamy
1.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/13003d58-532c-11e5-b029-b9d50a74fd14.html
2. The article is not publicly accessible
Received on Wed Sep 23 2015 - 16:48:33 PST