Fingerprint Keeps Computer Secure
By LARRY BLASKO Associated Press Writer
Personal computers store a lot of information that once was kept under lock and key or hidden under the socks in a dresser drawer.
The problem now is restricting access to that information.
Windows 95 and 98 have password access built in and there are after-market software packages available. But so many things in life now require passwords that keeping track of them often means
writing them down, or making them so obvious - your birthday, for example - that they don't provide much security.
If your PC holds sensitive data or if you just don't want your spouse to see the ''art'' you've collected from the Internet, a Redwood City, Calif., company called Digital Persona has a widget that might interest you.
It's called U.are.U, and it depends on a ''password'' that's absolutely unique to you, impossible to duplicate and not likely to become lost: a fingerprint.
U.are.U is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and has a red, oval-shaped scanning window at the top. When you come to an event that calls for security - say system powerup - you are invited to place a
finger on the scanner. If you are whom you claim to be, the system allows you to sail through. If not, thumbs down.
At setup, the software takes four scans of a selected finger, making the first person to use the system an administrator with the power to enroll other users and limit their privileges. A small company keeping
payroll records on a PC, for example, might want to limit access to only a couple of key executives.
The system also prompts you to register a backup finger on the other hand. It also accepts a typed password.
A nifty feature of the system is called One Touch Screensaver. It operates like any ordinary screensaver, except that it can be removed from the screen only by an authorized fingerprint. That's handy for those who work with sensitive data and don't want to close all applications every time they head for the water cooler.
One Touch Password allows you to replace all the passwords on your system with a fingerprint.
U.are.U is smart enough to not care from which angle it sees your fingerprint, so there's no hassle about alignment. I got fine results by just tapping the scanning area as though it were a keyboard key.
System requirements are a Pentium processor, a PC with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection, CD-ROM drive and Windows 95, 98 or NT.
The installation requires your Windows system disk, but is otherwise straightforward, with good on-screen prompts.
U.are.U with the bundled software costs $149.
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Digital Persona: Phone (877) 378-2738. Web site www.digitalpersona.com. |
