Towards Fingerprint Spoofing Detection in the Terahertz Range

Spoofing attacks using imitations of fingerprints of legal users constitute a serious threat. In this study, a terahertz time domain spectroscopy (TDS) setup in a reflection configuration was used for the non-intrusive detection of fingerprint spoofing. Herein, the skin structure of the finger pad is described with a focus on the outermost stratum corneum. We identified and characterized five representative spoofing materials and prepared thin and thick finger imitations. The complex refractive index of the materials was determined in TDS in the transmission configuration. For dataset collection, we selected a group of 16 adults of various ages and genders. The reflection results were analyzed both in the time (reflected signal) and frequency (reflectivity) domains. The measured signals were positively verified with the theoretical calculations. The signals corresponding to samples differ from the finger-related signals, which facilitates spoofing detection. Thanks to deconvolution, we provide a basic explanation of the observed phenomena. We propose two spoofing detection methods, predefined time–frequency features and deep learning based. The methods achieved high true detection rates of 87.9% and 98.8%. Our results show that the terahertz technology can be successfully applied for spoofing detection with high detection probability.