Fingerprint Authentication

[SalesServiceGuy]

Is this method of authenticating user access at the copier very popular?

It is a soon to be a new Toshiba feature for me.


"This function is for logging into the equipment by identifying a user using a connected fingerprint reader. When a fingerprint is registered, its image scanned by a fingerprint reader is converted into a fingerprint template and is stored in an internal storage device of the equipment. When fingerprint authentication is performed, a fingerprint image scanned by a fingerprint reader is converted into a fingerprint template in the memory of the equipment. The fingerprint template is collated with the registered fingerprint database beforehand. When the fingerprint matches, the user can log into the equipment"

Toshiba has always had free PIN code authentication or extra cost Card Readers usually only used when Papercut or MS365 Cloud applications are installed.

[rthonpm]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

I can see the value for some organisations, but for a lot of the environments that these machines find themselves in I don't see it as very practical. Imagine trying to keep a fingerprint reader working in a construction trailer where the optics are hard enough to keep clean with all the dust, not to mention the question of cleanliness overall from everyone putting their grimy fingers across the sensor with whatever crud they had on their hands coating it. Fingerprints are fine for personal devices, but a communal device? Not so much...

[KenB]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

I would think it would seriously challenge COVID gudelines, at least in some organizations.

Card readers are much more hygenic.

You can always use a "safe stylus", such as a pencil eraser, to press keys if you need to.

[rthonpm]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

I would think it would seriously challenge COVID gudelines, at least in some organizations.

Card readers are much more hygenic.

You can always use a "safe stylus", such as a pencil eraser, to press keys if you need to.

People are pigs: before even touching the op panel or keypads I wipe them down, and I've kept hand sanitizer in my toolbag for years. How's it going to look when an outbreak of some nasty stomach bug in a business gets traced back to a fingerprint reader on an MFP?

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

I understand the hygienic and COVID concerns but not every business has security doors where employees must use swipe cards to enter the premises that can conveniently double as an authentication method at the copier.

I know Konica Minolta and maybe other OEMs have had this option for many years and was just wondering about the attachment rate. I suspect it is low and probably lower with the lingering effects of COVID.

I am also wondering if the same person has different fingerprints on each finger? A quick Google search reveals yes. Each finger on the same pair of hands has a different fingerprint.

Must an employee always use the same finger to authenticate themselves at the copier? I suspect the copier enables the same person to register multiple fingerprints.

... and there is the cost consideration. I have not seen pricing yet.

I suspect that there is enough of a demand out there to offer this optional form of authentication and those businesses that want this option, know so in advance and seek OEMs that can supply.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

... after reading the User Guide it is recommended that each employee register two fingerprints.

It also appears that some employers are so concerned about authentication at the copier that they want two forms to be used at the copier at the same time. This implies that you can always "borrow" someone's swipe card but you cannot borrow their fingerprint. This is known as "Two Step Authentication".

[blackcat4866]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

I've had a few customers like this: LDAP Authentication followed by Job Account Codes followed by Secure Print Boxes. You end up authenticating three times before you can do anything. On some of the earlier machines, you'd have to re-authenticate three more times if you wanted to print THEN scan.

The machine is so SAFE noone wants to use it. =^..^=

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

I've had a few customers like this: LDAP Authentication followed by Job Account Codes followed by Secure Print Boxes. You end up authenticating three times before you can do anything. On some of the earlier machines, you'd have to re-authenticate three more times if you wanted to print THEN scan.

The machine is so SAFE noone wants to use it. =^..^=

what specific kind of businesses that had a MFP, that you serviced, had this kind of security requirement? What industry? What brand MFP?

... any idea if the Security requirement came from their HQ or 3rd party Managed IT provider?

[rthonpm]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

Even my government customers have gone away from smart card use for copiers. Granted, none of them are dealing with top secret or classified information. Outside of TS/SCI, biometrics may not pull in much of a draw: and even with those customers it may be seen as a potential threat unless the device also meets other requirements.

It's more of the phonification of an MFP than a serious selling point. The manufacturers know it's a stagnant market, but with money to be made, so any kind of one up feature could be used to jack up the price another $500-600 per device is seen as a good thing.



Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

The machine is so SAFE noone wants to use it. =^..^=

[KenB]

[blackcat4866]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

what specific kind of businesses that had a MFP, that you serviced, had this kind of security requirement? What industry? What brand MFP?

... any idea if the Security requirement came from their HQ or 3rd party Managed IT provider?

The customer I'm thinking of was an aftermarket auto parts retailer: fancy running boards, light kits, stereos, alarm systems, etc. And no, the requirement did not come from corporate, it was just a lone security obsessed IT guy. The machine was a Kyocera AlphardI Venus. At first, he would not give me any authentication at all ... didn't want me to use the machine at all. I have no problem with that. I went to the car and got assigned to another call. After that occasion, he conceded a login, but changed all the passwords after each service call. =^..^=

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

Toshiba's user guide recommends the use of SecuGen products, the self claimed #1 vendor in this space.

Typical Applications

• Mobile, PC, or network security
• Bank and financial systems
• Medical information systems
• Labor and attendance tracking
• Any password-based application

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

SecuGen describes their finger print readers as:

"Auto-On automatic finger detection and Smart Capture for quality scanning of dry, moist, aged, scarred, and difficult-to-scan fingers".

They range in price from as little as $45.00 to $75.00 each and are certified by the FBI.

There are at least nine OEMs in this space.

There is even such a thing as a four finger, finger print reader.

This is part of a seemingly large industry known as Biometrics.

Fingerprint Scanners – Fulcrum Biometrics, Inc

[bsm2]

Re: Fingerprint Authentication

SecuGen describes their finger print readers as:

"Auto-On automatic finger detection and Smart Capture for quality scanning of dry, moist, aged, scarred, and difficult-to-scan fingers".

They range in price from as little as $45.00 to $75.00 each and are certified by the FBI.

There are at least nine OEMs in this space.

There is even such a thing as a four finger, finger print reader.

This is part of a seemingly large industry known as Biometrics.

Seems like an idea that looks great on paper but rarely used or wanted by mainstream companies. Probably lots of service calls just to make a copy.