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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Fiondella who wrote (26463)	4/5/1999 2:07:00 PM
From: EPS	Respond to of 42771

"Motorola has developed a paper RF-ID transmitter. What that means is that you could conceivably have a smartcard that was nothing more than a sticker on your credit card in your wallet with a receiver on the computer. You would simply sit within a certain distance of the computer and it would recognize your "ID". This ID is then encrpyted and transmitted to the digitalme vault as your login." That would be of great use for cars paying toll.. "Inccidentally Schmidt has the academic contacts to get extremely good advice from experts in security approaches. I hope he is doing that and talking to AOL. I don't expect to change human nature just make it harder for the crooks. AOL is most at risk from viruses like Melissa because it undermines it's customer's confidence in using the internet. AOL. Now that is a verry good idea! There should be a way for NOVL to leverage its access to 40+ million eyeballs... mostly from the fortune 500 companies. come on guys!

To: Paul Fiondella who wrote (26463)	4/5/1999 2:41:00 PM
From: PJ Strifas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

I don't mean to harp on this topic but just to point out that AOL has been working on a way that would digital "sign" each user ID to client software ID (NOT for tracking purposes but for log verification). But some of the fun of AOL is that you can log on from a friend's house and access your account so that was difficult to implement. Also, AOL's email is not MSFT-based (doesn't use Outlook or Exchange) so macros won't automatically run when the email is opened. Only if one downloads the DOC file and opens it will that PC become infected. Since most AOLer's don't have DialUp networking installed or are usually connected via LAN, Melissa poses a lesser threat. But it all comes down to user knowledge right? And Novell is working to enable the end user. Technology will take us far into the user knowledge gap but it will never replace it (at least not in the forseeable future). Peter

To: Paul Fiondella who wrote (26463)	4/6/1999 12:48:00 PM
From: David	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

I generally admire your posts, but that kind of portable token-based, remote authentication device is incredibly insecure. Instead of hacking, the identity thief just makes off with the smart card. The way to go is with biometrics. In fact, there are clear signs that Novell has this in mind. Aside from its mention of biometrics at a recent conference, Novell is a founding partner of the BioAPI alliance, which also includes Compaq and several biometric companies. Compaq is allied with Identicator, for which it is OEMing a relatively inexpensive ($99) fingerscanner. Ultimately, the best system would also include biometrically-protected smart cards connecting up to networked smart card readers. (Mastercard and Bank of America are beta testing Identicator technology, so this may not be all that far off in the future.)