[cdg] Computer News - Logging on could require a swipe card
- From: "Donny Duncan" <ravers_deelite@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <cdg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2004 19:38:02 -0500
Pulled from NewScientist (www.newscientist.com)
Logging on could require a swipe card
Like getting cash out of the ATM, soon logging into your desktop computer at
work could require swiping a piece of hardware such as a credit card, key fob
or cell phone, as well as typing in a pass code.
Separate technologies that will make logging on to networks more secure, were
announced by Microsoft of Redmond, Washington, US and Sun Microsystems of Santa
Clara, California at the RSA Security conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Microsoft says that a technology called SecurID, developed at RSA Security in
Bedford Massachusetts, will be integrated with Windows by September 2004.
Windows users will be able to log on to a network with a key fob and a
six-digit pass code. Sun will demonstrate a similar technology for Linux users
at the meeting.
It is convenient "because it relies on both something you know - a PIN and
something you have, like a key chain," says business development manager
Michael Atalla of Microsoft. "It's more than a trend. It is a requirement of
today's environment."
As hackers become smarter, passwords must get more difficult to guess. This
forces users to change passwords every month, or to make them longer and more
nonsensical.
But this also makes them more difficult to remember, prompting people to write
them down and stick them to their computers. "And once they write them down,
they may as well have given them away," Atalla told New Scientist.
Read more:
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/tech/article.jsp?id=99994717&sub=Computing
Donny Duncan
http://www.computer-discounts-guide.com
http://www.making-an-online-living.com
http://www.satellitetv-reviews.com
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