Slashdot Mirror
Xerox Exploits Printer Flaws To Make Pseudo-Holograms
Red Wolf writes "A chance discovery by Xerox lets printers superimpose glossy images on regular printouts, creating the possibility for document authentication along the lines of holograms on credit cards. The new technology, called Glossmark, can use ordinary office printers to superimpose a glossy image on an ordinary printed document in a way that can't be photocopied or otherwise easily reproduced."
From reading the article (yes I read actually read it), it would seem that only the "wax" type color laserjet printers have this ability. There was a Slashdot article a while back that dealt with color laser printers and alternatives to inkjets. The news.com.com article does specify the models or type of printers where this was discovered. Any other info on this?
I'm sure some hackers will try to do some mods on their printers to control this as well. {cough}fake holograms{/cough}
On another note, how cool a job do these "Xerox Scientists" have? I need to get a job where I can hardware hack like these guys.
MMORPG fan-boy? Prove your worth
They apparently are considering using the exploit decoratively instead of for security, since it is always possible to forge something made by "common office printers."
I could make a damn good couterfeit $20 bill if I only had the paper and the press that makes them.
And your aunt could be your uncle, if she only had balls and a dick.
You might get the paper by bleaching one-dollar bills, but you damn sure ain't getting the press. The Intaglio process used on U.S. currency applies the ink to the paper at great pressure, and in sufficient quantity to achieve an embossed effect. U.S. currency has a distinctive feel because of this, and were you to slip an inkjet or color laser-printed bleached-single $20 bill into a stack of $20s you used to pay for something, the cashier would notice it didn't feel right before he/she noticed it didn't look right.
Intaglio presses are huge, somewhat rare, and cost in the millions of dollars, so you ain't gonna but putting one in your basement anytime soon. If you had the financial capability to do so, you wouldn't need to counterfeit money.
Having said that, the Secret Service does have counterfeit bills produced by Intaglio presses, and believe that they are being produced by the government of some country hostile to the U.S.-- because that's the kind of moxie it takes to get your hands on an Intaglio press.