3D Holograms Detect Fake Signatures

Roland Piquepaille writes "Several sources reported last week that a new technique that produces 3D holograms of handwriting could be used to detect fake signatures on checks, credit card receipts or other important handwritten documents. Here are pointers to Nature, Scientific American or BBC News Online. Instead of using 2D techniques to look at the sequence of pen strokes in a signature, this new method is based on 3D micro-profilometry which permits to translate the writing into an image showing dips and furrows of the sample so that anomalies can be detected. If you plan to imitate your spouse's signature, beware! Forensics have a new and very efficient tool. As an example, for the use of ballpoint pens on normal paper, the success rate was 100%. You'll find more details, references and pictures in this overview."

Comments

I would be scared

[jonknee]

Is my own writing that similar? What happens if I let my guard down and something slightly different, will I be arrested for fraud by forging my own name?

Re:I would be scared

[jonknee]

Even for someone with a good sig, the pressure of having to be perfect might lead to slight variations. I even get nervous with the biometric scanners at Busch Gardens... And you can't really change your hand.

Re:I would be scared

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

>There's no way they'll succeed with my signature. It varies so much from one signature to the next

Indeed, and that is one of the key security properties of physical signatures. It's a kind of defense against replay attacks. Getting two completely identical signatures can be taken as evidence that one of them is a copy.

Re:I would be scared

[LiquidCoooled]

whilst your actual stroke path may be different for every signature, the order of your strokes and the pressure at different points means the paper is imprinted in a certain order.

For instance, as I draw a capital B, i do my downstroke first, then sweep back up, to the left slightly, and then around for the 3 portion from top to bottom.

Even if somebody had my signature as an example, they would not be able to match my drawing style.

it would take a video of me performing the signature as well as paper samples, making it much much more difficult to achieve, and easier to detect.

This is one of the key elements of a signature that to this point has not been able to be utilised.

I love being left handed - it is my security by obscurity ;)

And the rate of False Negatives?

[CharonX]

A 100% detection (at least in tests) of false signatures? Great!
How hard did they try to create a false signature?
And how often were legit signatures rejected? (I can create an algorithm that filters out 100% of the false signatures, guaranteed - it simply rejects all signatures it gets)

ANOTHER ROLAND!

[toxic666]

Why does /. keep posting articles submitted by this guy? He has a shabby blog on radio.weblogs.com and does a poor job stealing other writers work; the site is a blatant commercial effort. Yet /. keeps putting Roland's stuff up and linking to it.

What's the deal? Is there some kind of commercial payola a la 1970's radio? Maybe the editor has a thing going with Roland, in a Clinton-McGreevy-esque way.

*Cringe* I didn't need any of those mental images.

Pointless?

[Parallex]

I'm not sure there's any point trying to prove a signature is authentic -> How many of us actually have formal signatures that we can replicate perfectly? I know sure as hell that my signature is different every time and, sequence of pen stroke or no, I'd fail a test for my own signature every time. I'd instead be working on a way to place an electronic signature - some kind of stamp or something, that acts like a GUID for a person how needs to sign something.