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Technology Stocks : Identix (IDNX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: R. Jaynes who wrote (12550)	2/24/1999 12:47:00 PM
From: David	Respond to of 26039

Rick, from your link: "All three fingerprint scanners prevented log-ins when we used different fingers or had someone else use theirs. But we easily defeated these entire security setups by booting from a DOS floppy disk. If your PC's BIOS settings allow a floppy boot (and most do by default), your system is vulnerable to intrusion. (Outsiders can access files from the DOS prompt, but they can't get into Windows. A sophisticated intruder, however, could log on to the network via DOS.)" This sounds serious, but it is not as big a loophole as first appears, since by far the lion's share of PC security is going to be accessing files on a network server, whether a corporate or governmental intranet, or a virtual private network over the Internet. These will all be biometrically protected. I suppose it can create a problem with home desktops or corporate portables. One of the competitors -- I think it is Veridicom -- has announced a Phoenix BIOS based system that avoids this loophole. We'll see if the others think it is worth following. By the way, do we expect to see an IDT version 2.0 announcement before or after the merger?

To: R. Jaynes who wrote (12550)	2/24/1999 12:47:00 PM
From: R. Jaynes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26039

All, Now that I have read the previous article more closely a couple of quotes - "But we easily defeated these entire security setups by booting from a DOS floppy disk. If your PC's BIOS settings allow a floppy boot (and most do by default), your system is vulnerable to intrusion. (Outsiders can access files from the DOS prompt, but they can't get into Windows. A sophisticated intruder, however, could log on to the network via DOS.)" This sounds ridiculous. How could CPQ/IDT allow such a simple bypass of their security??? and this is more reassuring - "Microsoft is also getting into the act. The company is creating software to enable developers to write smart card applications; and Windows 2000 will support smart cards. When heavyweights like Microsoft decide that something as dull sounding as PC security merits their attention, it's probably worth your time, too." Rick