How easy is it to copy a fingerprint?
It is relatively easy and inexpensive to copy the own fingerprint (may be compared with the manufacturing of a duplicate key). This may be done in the form of a rubber stamp which may be delivered by a stamp manufacturer on the basis of an electronic fingerprint template. Mechanical copies require as interim step a negative. Paper copies are made using a stamp pad. Copies from the own finger are a risk for systems for which the feint of an authentication by a complice can result in a damage (e.g., attendance system: feint of attendance by abandoning a suitable fingerprint copy to a colleague). Much more complicated is the manufacturing of a finger image copy from a non-cooperative person (feature theft). Here one has to get access to a fitting fingerprint of the foreign person. One way is to find latent fingerprints. However, latent prints often • are difficult to find • have a quality which in fact allow a dactyloscopic analysis, but which are inapplicable to electronic fingerprint ve
