The Genetic Log-in

DNA has been in use as a biometric identifier for some time. But as the O.J. trial proved, DNA analysis takes time, costs a lot of money and requires a lab to process – often creating the opening for challenges as to the accuracy of the test results. That’s the reason that, despite its utility, D...

Want lunch? Palm it over

Fed up with using swipe cards and PINs for their students’ lunch payments, a school board district in Clearwater, Fla. recently partnered with microelectronic company Fujitsu to use palm vein readers for nearly half of their 102,000 students. Pinellas County School Board District spent $120,000 t...

DARPA Wants a "Cognitive Fingerprint"

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA is the wellspring of U.S. government technology innovation. Now the agency is looking at what they’ve called a “cognitive fingerprint.” DARPA’s main goal with the project is to bypass what’s become the “current standard method,” for...

Typing Test

Researchers at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon have been working on software that doesn’t analyze what passwords are typed, but rather how words are typed. Researchers Ravel Jabbour, Wes Mastri and Ali El-Hajj have found that examining the speed and rhythm of the user’s keystrokes...

Biometrics' Researchers Say Follow Your Nose

Forget iris and fingerprint scans — scanning noses could be a quicker and easier way to verify a person’s identity, according to scientists at the University of Bath. With worries about illegal immigration and identity theft, authorities are increasingly looking to using an individual’s physical...

Security B-Sides Panel Talks Authentication

For years, leaders of the security industry have warned that passwords have outlived their usefulness. Users pick easy-to-crack passwords like the name of a dog or a favorite movie. They’re written on post-it notes and left sticking to the monitor for all to see. Multi-factor authentication — usi...