Mobile Devices Rely On Biometrics Technology
Security solutions have long been limited to high-end technologies due to their price and need, but demand for all types of security-related products blossomed following the events of Sept. 11. Now, with prices dropping and security still a prime concern, biometrics are being incorporated across the board, all the way down to mobile devices.
\
VINCENT A>
RANDAZZESE
\
Assistant Technical Editor
Mobile devices today are the lifeline for many businesses. With people on the go all the time, mobile devices are their only option; however, many times those devices lack the required amount of security.
IBM is one of the first companies to offer a PCMCIA fingerprint scanner as an option to its entire ThinkPad notebook line. The fingerprint option was designed by Targus, a mobile peripheral maker based in Anaheim, Calif.
"At IBM we consider security features to be the differentiator with our notebooks," said Stacy Cannady, IBM's security product manager.
Solution providers can take advantage of this technology and apply it to many vertical markets such as health care, insurance, government, field sales, manufacturing, law enforcement and the military, as their customers require additional levels of security.
"Finally we are seeing an interest in the healthcare industry, especially on the emergency floor in hospitals. Doctors have no time for passwords. However, they do need that extra layer of security, so a fingerprint scanner is just the trick. There are fingerprint scanners that will shoot through a latex glove," Cannady said. Respect for patient confidentiality and HIPAA regulations are also pushing the need for security devices in health care.
Besides providing extra security, incorporating fingerprint scanners can also save companies money. For example, according to industry estimates, every time a pharmaceutical field sales representative calls a help desk for a password reset, it costs the company an average of $50. Most users need their passwords reset twice per year, and with an average life span of three years for mobile devices such as notebook computers, the total could reach $300 for a single device.
\
Biometrics fingerprint scanners, such as the device pictured above designed by Targus and available on IBM ThinkPad notebooks, provide excellent security for mobile devices. As users in a wide variety of vertical and horizontal markets increasingly rely on mobile devices, the security of the devices themselves and the information that they contain or can access is becoming vitally important. Fingerprint scanners, along with tools that measure a user's handwriting or signature, are becoming common on notebook computers and Tablet PCs.
Fingerprint scanners, in contrast, cost $40 to $160 for a basic sensor. "We see the trend of biometrics in more and more aspects. If you look at the way technologies are deployed, they start obviously in the higher end and as the cost goes down, you will see a higher deployment across the board," Cannady said.
Other vendors, including Sharp and Electrovaya, also plan on offering fingerprint readers on some of their Tablet PCs.
Also pushing biometrics into mobile devices is San Jose, Calif.-based ISV Phoenix Technologies. The vendor's SecureMark is a password-protection product that tests handwritten input for Tablet PCs, based on the Phoenix Core Managed Environment (cME) FirstBIOS Tablet PC Pro. Phoenix is working with Taiwan-based Wistron Group to implement the solution into Wistron Group's new line of Tablet PCs. Wistron Group manufactures notebooks and Tablet PCs for several OEMs, but declined to say on which vendors' Tablet PCs the handwriting option will be available. Phoenix also declined to identify the biometrics company it partnered with.
This feature will be offered as an option on top of the Phoenix cME FirstBIOS Tablet PC Pro, a secure area at the heart of the Tablet PC. SecureMark brings an additional level of security to these Tablet PCs by prompting users to enter their signature or other handwritten password during bootup. Until the signature is verified, it is impossible to gain access to the operating system. The Phoenix product monitors pen pressure, time to write the password and style, and then determines if the user is authorized.
"We foresee this type of recognition technology being adopted by mobile platforms such as notebooks [and] PDAs," said Ed SooHoo, vice president of market development at Phoenix. "Handwriting is one of the more powerful and universal biometrics that is being utilized in the market today. Combining other biometrics offerings with handwriting can become a very powerful and more secure way to allow access to devices, applications and access areas.
"Our vision into mobile platforms and the added need of robust security for this platform triggered Wistron and ourselves to build the biometrics utility," SooHoo added. "There is a recognized need for input that is independent of the keyboard as well as ensuring higher levels of authentication beyond the current offerings of biometrics devices and solutions."