---
title: "Thanks to Contact-wearing Cows, Digital Systems Could Soon Get Much Harder to Hack"
description: "Researchers at the University of St. Andrews managed to attach a tiny laser to a cow's eye, hoping to make biometric security systems safer."
date: "2018-05-02"
modified: "2018-05-02"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/laser-beams-future-biometric-security"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "biometric security"
  - "iris scanning"
  - "laser"
---

# Thanks to Contact-wearing Cows, Digital Systems Could Soon Get Much Harder to Hack

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Cow-Beams.png>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/618651168" target="\_blank"\>Getty Images/Tag Hartman-Simkins\</a\>\</em\>*

In an effort to protect ourselves from [our own idiocy](<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/business/equifax-cyberattack.html>) (no, "password123!" is not going to thwart any hackers), our devices and platforms are relying on biometric readings — fingerprints, facial recognition, iris scans — to keep our information secure. Even our bank cards will likely have [built-in fingerprint scanners](<http://www.wired.co.uk/article/mastercard-biometric-card-testing-visa-gemalto-scanner-fingerprint-trial>).

But even biometric security systems have [their own shortcomings](<https://www.wired.com/2016/03/biometrics-coming-along-serious-security-concerns/>). Fingerprints can be [replicated](<https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/2/11540962/iphone-samsung-fingerprint-duplicate-hack-security>), iris scans have to be stored on a database *somewhere,* and facial recognition can be [spoofed](<https://www.wired.com/2016/08/hackers-trick-facial-recognition-logins-photos-facebook-thanks-zuck/>) without too much effort.

Now, a team of researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Center at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland are trying to make biometric security safer, by producing tiny stickers that reflect light of a specific wavelength, according to a paper published Tuesday in *[Nature Communications](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03874-w>)* and [covered by *IEEE Spectrum*](<https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/optoelectronics/flexible-stickon-tags-attach-laser-beams-to-eyeballs>). These lasers could make conventional biometric scanners even safer by reading these reflected wavelengths, on top of conventional metrics, like fingerprints, and iris patterns.

Here's how it would work. A scanner would emit light, directed towards a sticker stuck on anything you'd want to protect — security cards, contact lenses, finger tips. The sticker is made of layers of organic, semiconducting polymers with nanoscale grid of grooves etched on top, which reflects light in just such a way so that it only produces specific wavelengths — the "key," the equivalent of a password. Each sticker is different because it has different grooves, which emit different wavelengths. Lasers embedded in the scanners then read the wavelength of light, granting access if the sticker credentials are right.

To test their system, the researchers stuck a sticker to a contact lens that was applied to a cow's eyeball. They shone a light at it, and observed a "well-defined green laser beam emerging from the eye" — exactly what they were looking for. And there's more good news: the light they shined was low-powered enough to be directed at the eye without damaging it, meaning that the technology could be used in contact lenses for humans.

The researchers are hoping that these stickers could act as a kind of "light barcode," adding an extra security layer to conventional biometric security methods. For instance, an iris scanner could be outfitted with a low-power laser beam that could read these wavelengths — on top of the conventional near-infrared scans of the iris.

The researchers suggest that these kinds of systems could make counterfeiting banknotes a lot harder, or provide an extra layer of security for [fingerprint scanners](<https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/2/11540962/iphone-samsung-fingerprint-duplicate-hack-security>).

No security system is flawless. It's a perpetual cat-and-mouse game: security firms develop new technologies, only to have rogue agents find ways around those measures. Biometric security is no exception. The more biometric data we store, the more vulnerable we are, so every additional layer of security will help keeping our data safe.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)