Fingerprints Databases: Security Vulnerabilities and Border Officials

fingerprints databases: By Alex Boutilier Ottawa Bureau Reporter Thu., Sept. 15, 2016 OTTAWA—Border officials warn a cyberattack on their facial recognition or fingerprints databases could result in barring innocent travellers from Canada — or letting the wrong people in, according to Toronto Star. In documents prepared for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale in November, Canada Border Services Agency officials said they need to keep pace with emerging security vulnerabilities to systems governing who can enter the country. Every year, approximately 355,000 people from 30 countries provide Canadian officials with fingerprint records and a digital photograph, according to the documents. The agency growing use of biometric data — such as fingerprints, facial recognition, and retinal scans — was cited as an example. Such attacks could disrupt border traffic flows and compromise the integrity of border controls. A malicious cyberattack, for example, could infiltrate the back-end of a biometric identification system and produce false acceptances and/or rejections, reads the document, obtained by the Star under access to information law. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.