The Bad Guys Will Cut Off Your Fingers

It's perfectly safe to try as long as you do not disable password logins. There are packages for several Linux distributions, with instructions here. I'll run through a source installation; don't worry, it's easy. In addition to your usual build environment, you need the development libraries for USB and PAM. Install these first, then grab the latest tarball from ThinkFinger, and unpack it thusly:

$ tar zxvf thinkfinger-0.3.tar.gz

Then run these commands to compile and install it:

$ ./configure  --with-securedir=/lib/security \
  --with-birdir=/etc/pam_thinkfinger
$ make
# make install
# modprobe uinput

Now you can test it. Run this command:

# tf-tool --acquire

[...]
Please swipe your finger (successful swipes 0/3, failed swipes: 0)...

Snug your finger into the little indent above the scanner, and slowly draw your finger across the scanner. You need three successful scans. The scan will be stored in /tmp/test.bir. Now you can test it- run this command, and swipe your finger, again slowly:

# tf-tool --verify
Result: Fingerprint does match
	

		Tags: 
Linux, security, IT,  Linux,  security