VIDEO: Fingerprints are not the same as passwords

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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Fingerprint Ways in which fingerprints are different from passwords:

  • Your passwords can be kept secret. You leave your fingerprints lying around everywhere.
  • You should have different passwords for everything you do. You only have ten fingerprints to choose from (if you have the typical allocation of hands).
  • If the worst happens, you can always change your passwords. You can’t change your fingerprints. You’re stuck with them for life.
  • You can forget your passwords. You always have your fingerprints on you.
  • Your fingerprints aren’t easily guessable, as you never have one that’s the name of your favourite football team or something dumb like Fingerprint1.

Ways in which fingerprints are the same as passwords:

  • You have to trust that the organisations with whom you share your fingerprints and passwords take security seriously.

Learn more in my video about why the differences between passwords and fingerprints matter, and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you would like me to make more short films about computer security issues.

Fingerprints are not the same as passwords | Graham Cluley

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

2 comments on “VIDEO: Fingerprints are not the same as passwords”

  1. Sillie Abbe

    It could be added that fingerprints can be bypassed by a fallback password when such a password is registered in case of false rejection.

  2. Andrew

    Most important, you can be forced to use your fingers or used during sleeptime

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