Net Nanny takes security beyond passwords
By Matthew Nelson
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 2:43 PM PT, Oct 8, 1998
NEW YORK-Net Nanny is now expanding its line of security products beyond its
core business of restricting access to Internet sites and is targeting
corporate developers with a biometric security access system, announced here
at Internet World Thursday.
Net Nanny's BioPassword is a software-based system that creates individual
user profiles based on the manner that a person types in their password. The
product creates the profile based on a persons hand size, the speed of the
typing, the length the keys are held down, and other factors.
When used in conjunction with a password, BioPassword will provide an extra
level of security in case the password has been broken.
"It's there to augment security," said Tom Yerex, manager of research and
development for Net Nanny. "It's there to add that extra bit."
Net Nanny acquired the technology from Stanford University and plans to
offer the system as a software developer's kit (SDK) for inclusion in
Internet-commerce applications as well as database access, phone systems,
and smart cards.
"It has so many possibilities that we can't do it all. That's why we're
doing the Software Development Kit," Yerex said.
The Net Nanny BioPassword SDK is slated for release in the first quarter of
next year for Windows 95 and Windows 98. The company hopes to provide
Windows CE and Unix versions soon thereafter. Pricing is still to be
determined.
Net Nanny Software International Inc., in Bellevue, Wash., is at
www.netnanny.com <http://www.netnanny.com>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 1998
CONTACT: Peter Schalestock
House approves Child Online Protection Act
Includes White's language to study private-sector solution
Washington, D.C. - The House of Representatives yesterday approved the Child
Online Protection Act (H.R. 3783). The bill, introduced by Representative
Mike Oxley (R-Ohio), requires commercial providers of material that is
harmful to minors over the Internet to ensure that minors do not have access
to the material.
Representative Rick White (R-First Dist.) worked with Representative Oxley
to add several provisions to the bill when it was considered by the Commerce
Committee. A commission was added, made up of academic and industry
experts, to study additional measures to protect children on the Internet.
Additional defenses were added for measures such as digital certificates,
filtering, and blocking. The bill was clarified to state that only those
who post material that is harmful to minors will be liable. And language
was added to encourage parents, educators, and industry representatives to
continue efforts to protect children from dangers posed by the Internet.
"We definitely have a problem for children on the Internet," White said.
"There is some appalling material out there and it is all too easy for
children to find it. In fact, I think the problem is worse than it was two
years ago when Congress passed the Communications Decency Act. I continue
to believe that we need a solution that works in the real world, and the
best way to get that solution is not for Congress to pass a law. What we
really need is a solution developed by the people who use and operate the
Internet every day, and I hope that the commission created by this bill will
move us closer to that kind of solution.
"No one should let this bill give them a false sense of security. It only
applies to commercial material, and it only applies in the United States,"
said White. "We need to keep working on a solution that will really work
for parents and children."
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Peter Schalestock
Counsel and Communications Director
Office of U.S. Representative Rick White
mailto: peter.schalestock@mail.house.gov
<mailto:peter.schalestock@mail.house.gov>
house.gov <http://www.house.gov/white>
(202) 226-6830
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