No More Keys to Lose

Tychi Systems is shipping their long anticipated BioKnob, the first doorknob with fingerprint recognition. Users brush their finger across the knob to unlock the door. One hundred sets of fingerprints can be stored. An audit feature records entries by Individual, Date and Time. Entry is also possible by an individually assigned passcode.

With the BioKnob, families do not need to carry keys or hide one in the yard. Managers at businesses need not worry about loose keys or having to re-key locks with every lost key or change in employees. Guests or short term visitors can be programmed; then after their stay, their fingerprints are deleted. The audit feature records the last 1,000 entries. Parents can tell what time their teenagers came home. Employers have a time-and-attendance function built-in.

A tiny sensor on the BioKnob reads the fingerprint pattern when a finger tip is brushed across it. The pattern is converted into a template. No actual pictures of fingerprints are recorded, so no one can replicate fingerprints from the data.

Add Biometrics to Desktop

US Biometrics (www.usbiometrics.com) has released MemberQ, a product that allows companies to add biometric functionality to existing software applications without having lengthy and costly integration hassles. What impact could this have on an organization?

• They can now use fingerprint profiles to identify employees or customers and do so while using existing software applications.

• They can add biometric authentication to achieve two-factor authentication when mandated or suggested by governing authorities.

• Customers and/or employees are given unprecedented convenience in identifying themselves by using their fingerprint profile in lieu of items such as passwords or magnetic swipe cards.

• Companies can now offer their customers and employees a higher level of identity theft protection through fingerprint biometrics.

In the past, time and implementation costs have been two dominating factors that kept companies from integrating biometrics into their everyday business. MemberQ eliminates the wait and minimizes costs. With MemberQ there is no need for a traditional “integration” with existing applications and it is not necessary to expose or have any touch points with existing customer or employee databases.

Archiving Service From MessageLabs

MessageLabs has made available the MessageLabs Archiving Service, developed to meet the growing need for secure, hosted e-mail and instant message archiving services for legal discovery, regulatory compliance and message storage management. With up to 83 percent of business-critical data now residing in e-mail, according to industry analyst Radicati, a growing number of companies face the need to securely maintain e-mail archives in a searchable format.

The MessageLabs Archiving Service removes the hurdles often associated with deploying and maintaining in-house solutions and is fully scalable to meet individual organizational needs. The service consists of five main components to ensure absolute security and reliability: An Archiving Policy Engine, a Secure Archive, Archive Search & Retrieval, Archiving Supervision and Archiving Reports.

Study Shows Trends in Information Security

RSA Conference has published the results of a new study examining the top media trends in the information security industry. Data Security emerged as the top trend in the three key media categories evaluated, earning 24 percent of overall coverage, 23 percent of business press coverage and 24 percent of IT press coverage. The study identified the top three information security topics reported by the media as: Data Security/Security Breaches (24 percent), Malware (19 percent) and Identity Theft/Privacy (13 percent).

“The amount of attention the business press dedicated to covering identity theft, security breaches and malware demonstrates that information security has grown to be more than just a technology issue — it’s an important business and consumer story,” said Sandra Toms LaPedis, area vice president and general manager, RSA Conference.