Microsoft puts passwords at your fingertip

Doug | Date: Sep 9, 2004 | Comments: 1

• Print PDF
• Filed Under: News

Throw away your password cheat sheets and sticky notes on the monitor. Microsoft has introduced its first hardware products with fingerprint recognition technology -- a standalone reader and a keyboard/mouse combo with integral reader that replace passwords with the user’s fingerprint.

(Click here for larger image)

Both the standalone "Fingerprint Reader" and the "Optical Desktop" keyboard/mouse combo use standard USB connections. A software package called DigitalPersona Password Manager builds and maintains a database that maps fingerprints to passwords. DigitalPersona runs on any Windows XP configuration, including Home Edition, Professional, Media Center Edition, or Tablet PC Edition. Presumably, it will also run on XP Embedded, the componentized version of Windows XP.

The Microsoft "Optical Desktop" keyboard/mouse combo
Note integral reader on left side of keyboard
(Click image for larger view)

---

Related stories:

• Mobile ID verifier device runs Windows CE
  
• Biometric plugin adds fingerprint authentication to Windows CE 5.0