Letter: DNA authentication is best

A member of the intelligence community advocates relying on DNA scans — stored in a stand-alone system — because other authentication methods are vulnerable to tampering.

Regarding “Bush wants a security clearance reform plan by April 30”: What method of authentication is President Bush (or whoever is in charge) planning to use? RFID, retina scan, fingerprint, voice analysis, DNA authentication, what? Or should I say which? Or all of the above? Isn't he trying to get rid of redundancy?

I suggest DNA authentication. RFID can be tampered with, and so can the other methods. But there might be civil liberties issues with a DNA scan. Certain officials like myself and other members of the intelligence community would have to sign a release allowing our DNA to be registered in a DNA bank in a stand-alone secure system like the NSA computers so hackers cannot infiltrate it and compromise our profiles or sensitive data crucial to national security.

I know — I was a black-hat hacker before I became a white-hat hacker for the U.S. government. It's got to be a stand-alone system to protect the government from liability and breach.

Kenneth J. Robinson


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