[ noun ] fingerprint made by the thumb (especially by the pad of the thumb) <noun.communication>
Once a hacker has taken a thumbprint, for example, they can gain access to the computer system repeatedly without anyone noticing. More complex are combinations of hardware and software.
Michael Magruder, the owner of four McDonald's in California's prosperous Marin County, spent hours practicing on more than 300 burgers, trying to figure out a way of folding them in paper without leaving a thumbprint on the bun.
Lots of computing power will be devoted to keeping records safe from tampering: Before it allows anyone to open a file or change a document, a computer may ask for voice identification, a thumbprint or a retina scan.