Fingerprint Identification Unit (Puppy)

Sony

FIU-600-N03

1. Hardware (puppy)
2. Yellow Warning Sheet
3. Safety Precaution Sheet

The product has an approximate possibility of less than 1% in granting an access to persons other than those who have registered their fingerprint

The device may cause some interference with television/ radio reception.

Plug the device into the computer's USB port when advised by the instructions in the software installation procedure.

Capacitance Sensor

Sensor Block:

• number of pixels: 128 x 129
• size of pixel 80 um x 80 um
• sensor area 10.2 mm x 15.4 mm
• size of image data 24 KB (raw image),3 KB (monochrome image)

Memory Block:

• Flash Memory: 1 MB
• Template Data Size: 512 bytes /print
• Fingerprint Capacity: 1000 prints (onboard)

1. Export fingerprint templates and 8-bit fingerprint images, which can be used in third party matching algorithms.
2. Equipped with capacitance sensors that do not need cleaning and cannot be fooled by paper print.
3. False Acceptance Rate <0.01% (measured by Sony Verification Level 3)
4. False Rejection Rate <1.9 % (measured by Sony at Verification Level 3)

1. Avoid direct sunlight
2. Avoid extreme temperatures (Operation temperature between 5 - 35 C)
3. Avoid extreme humidity (Operation humidity between 45 - 85 % RH)
4. Avoid chemicals
5. Avoid devices which or generate strong electric or magnetic fields.
6. Avoid excessive dust
7. Avoid mechanical vibration or shock

BioconX Professional Edition and BioconX Enterprise Edition 3.7

Software

• 128-bit encryption
• Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher
• Windows 98/NT4.0/2000/XP

Hardware

• USB port

BioconX Professional Edition is the software version designed for a single workstation, and BioconX Enterprise Edition serves as an upgrade to the Professional Edition when installed with the standalone option. The two software cannot be installed on a single machine at the same time. In order to perform an upgrade, Professional Edition must be completely removed and all the associated user profiles must be deleted. Before installing either software, the user must have administrative rights on the local machine and an existing user account.

When the CD is inserted, the user is to follow the instructions given by the installation wizard. During the installation process, the user must choose the type of device that is been installed (i.e.,serial,USB) and the name of the supported biometric device from a drop-down menu. If not pre-selected, the user must also select the feature BiconX MMC Admin Snapin, because this is the administrative console that manages the user interaction with the biometrics device (i.e., creates user profiles, grants user access). The software driver of the fingerprint authentication device is automatically installed with the software installation and, as a result, if the user attempts to install the hardware before the software the new device will not be recognized by the computer.

The computer is restarted in the end of the installation process. When the user then logs-on to the computer, the usual Windows 2000 login screen is replaced by the BiconX login screen. The user is given the choice to either login with their password or via the biometrics device. During the first login, no biometric user profile has been created, has therefore the user has to login using the password mode. When the user's password is authenticated, the biometric enrollment process beings. Once the enrollment is complete, the user is granted full access of the computer.

Number of Templates

During the enrollment process, 3 fingerprint templates are created.

Creation of Templates

When the user presents their finger to the sensor, the image of the finger is captured via electrical measurements from the sensing surface. Then the raw image is enhanced to reduce noises, such as cuts or dust. The location of the special minutia features (ridge endings or bifurcations on the finger) are then mapped, and the coordinates are recorded. Through an algorithm, this information is further coded into a mathematical summary which is called a Biokey.

Authentication Process

During the authentication process, the presented finger is captured and analyzed in an identical way as during enrollment. Then the mathematical summary of the claimant fingerprint is compared to the Biokey summary stored at enrollment. If the enrollment and presented prints are deemed "similar enough", then the user is granted access to the computer.

Several Problems are encountered during the enrollment process. Below are three positions that the tester used during enrollment process:

	It is a common misconception that during the enrollment the user has to roll their finger from one side to another, similar to the process adopted by the police during ink fingerprint capture. On the contrary, this practice is discouraged because with this motion it is very difficult to capture a clear image of the finger. The finger print capture area is limited to a small sensing surface so the rolling motion would only superimpose fingerprint images as the user rolls their finger in the confined space.
	The user must not enroll with the tip of their finger, because that is only a very small portion of the finger, therefore the software cannot capture enough minutia for the verification process. When the user tries to do so, the device rejects the finger.
	This is the correct position of finger placement -- to naturally place the upper 1/3 of the finger on top of the sensing surface, and to not try to press too hard or too light on the surface. If the user presses too hard then the fingerprint image is smudged and all the lines of the fingerprint tend to be thick. If the user presses too lightly then the fingerprint image does not have enough details for the feature extraction and most of the lines of the fingerprint tend to be broken rather than continuous as they should be.

	Admin GUI (Professional) In the Professional Edition, there is one Admin GUI that allows the administrator to create, register and manage up to four other user accounts. Each of the users can register up to 5 fingers. Only the administrator has the privilege of 10 finger registrations. Since BioconX can support more than one biometrics authentication device simultaneously, the five readings are not limited to fingerprints. For example, if there is an Iris scanner also installed, then the 5 readings can include 2 eyes and 3 fingers. A screen capture of the Professional Edition's Admin Console is shown on the left.
	Admin GUI (Enterprise) In the Enterprise Edition there is one Admin GUI that controls a wider variety of functions and gives the administrator more control over the users than the Professional Edition. With the Enterprise Edition the administrator can create up to 13 user accounts on a local machine. The functions of the administrative console are grouped into four categories: Users, Groups, Applications and Computer. In the user category, the administrator can create, delete user accounts and change user rights. There are 13 rights in total, and the administrator is granted all of them by default. The 13 rights are: Biometric Registration True Single Sign-on Create Modify Users Create/Modify Groups Create/Modify Applications Create/Modify Computers Change User-App Passwords Change Others Net Passwords Logoff Users Manage Sony Devices Unlock Workstation Change Own Net Password Modify the Biometric System It is obvious that some of these rights are not appropriate to grant to basic users. For example the user should not be able to modify other users' profiles. In the group category, as the name implies, the users are subdivided into groups. With this interface, the administrators can assign rights to different group of people, for example: power users, basic users and guests, instead of assign rights to each individual user. In the application category, the administrator can restrict which application is available to which user. When the user is granted to use a particular application, it automatically launches at start-up. When the user is denied the access to certain application, it does not launch at start-up. In the computers category, the administrator can restrict the users to which workstation they can access. Since this software was installed as a standalone to a single workstation, this feature did not apply during our testing.
Regular User GUI In both Enterprise and Professional Edition, each user is capable of changing their own user password and registering new biometric templates with an interface similar to administrator's console in the Professional Edition. This interface is located in the Control Panel.

• Login Control
  
  The program allows the user to login with either their password or the biometric authentication device. The user cannot set the login control to require both identifiers, so "double security" is not an option.

  Not supporting the option of requiring both a password and a fingerprint is not an ideal way to grant access. The security factors are reduced because the user only needs to present either their biometric feature or their password. This means that if an intruder just happen to know the password then they can still break into the system. This login control does not make the system any safer than using passwords alone. However, if the administrator were to create the user accounts and then choose a password that is unknown to the user, then the user would be limited to biometric login only. This way the user is forced to identify who they are using the biometric feature.

• Password Protected Screen Savers
  
  When the screen saver is turned to password protection mode, the user needs to present a registered finger in order to regain access of the computer. After pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, the user is able to start the authentication process.

  To have the user press Ctrl+Alt+Del every time they need to disengage the screen save is not very convenient for everyday use of the device. For the best physical security, the screen saver should be set to engage after only a few minutes of idle time. This will be frustrating, however, if there is a cumbersome process to regain access to the computer. Ideally, the biometric device should start the authentication process when the sensor detects the presence of the finger. So the user can regain access of the computer by simply pressing the finger on the sensing surface, instead of performing an additional step of pressing Cltr+Alt+Del.

• File Encryption
  
  Available. This software feature builds on top on the Windows file encryption system. When the user wants to encrypt a file, the user simply right clicks on the file or folder, and chooses property -> advance options -> file encryption.

  One possible problem with this file encryption feature is a lack of transparency. That is, the design of the file encryption system does not convey a clear mental model of what is happening. When the software is used for file encryption, a second password verification is not required when the user tries to access an encrypted file. But rather this right is granted when the user authenticated at initial logon. On the positive side, this file encryption feature allows the user to apply their previously acquired knowledge of the Windows GUI. They do not have to relearn the file encryption process.

• Single Sign-On
  
  Available for applications. When the user logs in, they is automatically granted access to all the applications that this user is registered for.

  Again, this feature has transparency issues. Although this "single sign-on" process is very efficient, in the sense that it eliminates the need for the user or administrator to enter the permissions for each application, the permission process is not very clear to the user. In addition, the security of the applications is compromised because it automatically assumes that the user is in front of the computer when the screen saver is not on.

  Unfortunately, this software does not provide a Single Sign-On option for web sites.

• Customization
  
  For the Professional Edition, the software is not customizable. For the Enterprise Edition, the administrator can change the sensitivity of the sensor by adjusting two values: the MergeThreshold and the MinutiaMin. The MergeThreshold is a number from 0-100 to measure the "likeness" of each of the 3 fingerprint templates created at enrollment and to merge them into a single template. The larger the number, the higher the requirement for similarity. The MinutiaMin is the number of minutia that a finger scan image must contain for a fingerprint template to be created. In order to perform these adjustments, the administrator must use the Registry Editor. Below is a screen capture of this process.
  
  

  This customization option gives the user some front-end adjustments, since these two values affect the parameters during the enrollment process. For example the higher the MinutiaMin is, the more Minutia a sample contains, and then the more precise the template will be. This will lead to greater security because there will be a stricter authentication process during login. As for the MergeThreshold, the higher the value is, the smaller the range of finger positions the sensor would allow, and the stricter is login process will be. The parameters induce subtle changes to the sensitivity of the program, and is difficult to predict the effects on the system when making multiple adjustments.

• Training
  
  There is no training utility provided with the Professional Edition. However, for the Enterprise Edition there is a Scanner Testing Session which gives users feed back on their enrollment performance. The user is prompted to record their fingerprint 3 times just like the usual enrollment process. Then the software prompts the user to record another finger image. This one is compared to the combined template of the first three and a value is generated. If this number is bigger than 100, then the fingerprint is accepted and the user would be able to login, if not, the user would be falsely rejected.

  This is seemingly a simple feature, but it is a very important usability enhancement tool. It gives the user a mental model of how the biometrics are integrated into the security process. From this session, the user can get the feedback of seeing their fingerprint image. They can test to see which placement positions give better success at future logins. This feature, used in conjunction with the Registry Editor, can allow the administrator to finely adjust the MergeThreshold in order to accommodate to the variation in finger presentation positions during log-in and reduce the false rejection rate. However, this feature can still be improved upon. For example, the program could show feature extraction taking place -- it can take the fingerprint image, and then clean it, and put circles on the minutia detected, and then generate a mathematical summary accordingly, and showing that only the summary is stored and the image is deleted. This addition might improve users trust of the biometric device because the user would have a better idea of how the system works. The screen capture below shows the training feature in action.