RE: Hacking USB Thumbdrives, Thumprint authentication

[David Brodbeck <DavidB@mail.interclean.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Aronson [mailto:spamtrap.secfocus@dja.mailme.org]

> Law enforcement agencies use some kind of algorithm to convert 
> fingerprints to a numeric value, so that they can be easily 
> compared.  

My understanding is that this is only an approximate representation -- it's
not intended to be unique, it's only a method for quickly locating prints
similar to the suspect print.  The final comparison between a print that's
on file and a suspect print is done by eye, and is actually somewhat
subjective.