Who needs passwords? Everyone has unique fingerprints and a ...

Who needs passwords? Everyone has unique fingerprints and a face. The latest trend is biometrics, using your body parts for authentication. The upcoming Windows 8.1 release will offer improved fingerprint security including options to secure folders using a fingertip as well as signing into Microsoft accounts and authenticating online payments.

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ith an increasing number of keyboards, mice and laptops offering built-in fingerprint readers, biometrics is about to hit the big time. The new 8.1 update, codenamed “Blue”, will see fingerprint scanners used more widely in PC hardware. Microsoft says that “pervasive biometrics will make it that much easier to log into Windows”. At the latest TechEd, Microsoft showed off a fingerprint touch sensor working with the beta Windows 8.1 software delivering “touch and go” security for Windows. “Fingerprint-based biometrics sensors will be an integral part of the Windows 8.1 user experience,” says Microsoft’s Dustin Ingalls. “They’ll provide enhanced security and the very best experience for verifying a user’s identity.” Just smile to log-on Biometrics has the potential to change the way we look at our mobile devices, literally and figuratively. Google has filed a patent for a facial password system to unlock phones using facial expressions. Yes, users will be required to smile, stick tongues out or frown at the screen instead of typing a password. This is to prevent the current Android “Face Unlock” utility being fooled by photos of the user. The system would prompt users to perform actions such as a frown, smiling with an open mouth, yawning or moving an eyebrow. It would then compare the position of a “facial landmark” in frames taken from a video stream to come up with a liveness score. Google’s patent suggests that the system could be augmented with other technologies, such as a 3D rangefinder and “technologies such as lasers to determine distances to remote objects, depth of remote objects.” The patent also suggests that phones could “emit light beams having different colours or frequencies, that are expected to induce in the eyes of a user a reflection of light having a corresponding frequency content”.

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Authentication – a bitter pill to swallow? Motorola, a Google company, even has plans for an authentication pill which turns the human body into a giant authentication token. The pill could make accessing data faster, easier and more secure. Motorola has also tested a tattoo with embedded sensors and antenna. Both are designed to replace current systems such as typing in four-digit codes on smartphones. Regina Dugan, who leads special projects for Motorola, says “authentication is so annoying that only about half the people do it. Despite the fact that a lot of the data on your smartphone is far more prone to identity theft.” The authentication pill – reportedly already certified by the FDA – is powered by a chemical reaction with stomach acid and produces a machine-readable 18-bit signal which can be used for authentication. “I take a vitamin every day, why can’t I take a vitamin authentication every day?” asked Dugan. “Your entire body becomes an authentication token. When I touch my phone, my computer, my door, my car, I am authenticated.” That might be a bit extreme for most of us, but one thing you can be sure of is that the world of biometrics is moving fast with a range of options and virtually unlimited applications. Biometric options: Coming to a device near you • Fingerprint scanner built into the smartphone screen. • Facial recognition powered by high-definition cameras. • Voice recognition based on your vocal samples. • Iris/retina scans using pattern-recognition techniques. • RFID-enabled pills for swallowing, or implants. • Tattoos with embedded sensors. Hacked together by Chillisoft NZ, distributors for ESET (developers of NOD32 antivirus software), from articles by Stephen Cobb and the security team at the Cyber Threat Analysis Center (CTAC) of ESET, LLC.