Windows XP may spur biometrics

From...

By Dan Verton

(IDG) -- Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows XP operating system includes several security feature enhancements. But one of the most significant changes, coming amid a push for increased security, could mean the beginning of widespread use of biometric technology, according to experts.

Biometric technologies provide identity authentication through such methods as fingerprints, iris scans, facial geometry scans and voice scans. Biometrics provide a higher level of security and authentication than other methods because no two people are exactly alike. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., the technology has garnered renewed attention.

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Most users until now viewed biometrics as costly and difficult to integrate with legacy applications. That's changing, however, and at least one company will use the mass appeal of Windows XP to help broaden the appeal of biometrics.

Microsoft's support for Fast User Switching, which allows users to switch profiles without shutting down their applications or completely logging off a shared PC, has become the centerpiece of a native fingerprint biometric system from Redwood City, Calif.-based DigitalPersona Inc.

DigitalPersona's U.are.U Personal fingerprint scanner system is fully integrated with Windows XP. The personal edition of the system follows the release of the U.are.U Online and Professional editions, which the company has sold to Los Angeles-based California Commerce Bank, The Coca Cola Co. in Atlanta and several medical services firms.

"Over the course of hundreds of years, signing a piece of paper has become part of our lifestyles," said DigitalPersona CEO Fabio Righi. "We are trying to accomplish the same thing with biometrics. Little by little, people will get used to it," he added.

Some corporate users are already getting used to biometrics. Carlton Musmann, senior vice president at First Financial Credit Union in West Covina, Calif., said his bank's 70,000 customers are demanding that it provide a larger number of secure online banking capabilities. And he said the only cost-efficient technology that's capable enough is fingerprint biometrics.

"We compared fingerprint technology to retinal scan, and the cost difference was significant," said Musmann. The bank now offers 10 Saflink Corp.-based fingerprint biometric kiosks throughout Northern California.

"You can do anything that you can do through a clerk," he said. "Users don't need an ATM card, a wallet or anything."

The sticking point across most vertical industries has been the integration challenge posed by multiple legacy applications and the price of biometric hardware, said Walter Hamilton, vice president of business development at Saflink, in Bellevue, Wash. However, both of those challenges have been solved with interoperable middleware and biometric devices that cost $100 or less, he said.

"Some have shied away from the integration challenge in the past," said Lloyd Tanaka, senior business manager for eTrust security products at Computer Associates International Inc. in Islandia, N.Y. However, in light of the recent terrorist attacks and the push to improve security, "there's no resistance conceptually to what needs to be done," Tanaka said.

Biometrics "is really all about deploying security and convenience at the same time," said Righi.