USB Biometric drives. Worth getting?

ian_heath · 03-18-2008, 07:43 AM

Hey all

Was thinking of picking up a good deal on a USB Biometric scanner/flash drive to use mainly to log into secure online sites (such as yahoo, facebook etc) and i know my mate who has this built into his new HP laptop can configure his to do this (i believe the device has verisign authentication)

anyone know what the deal is?
do ALL these devices support this or do i need to shop for ones only offering the magic seal?

cheers

Ian

-LONGBOW- · 03-30-2008, 04:30 PM

Passwords are better in my opinion,

I watched the MYTHBUSTERS Crack one of those things pretty easily, If you call snagging someone's prints, and making an artificial thumbrint using photographic techniques and gelatin easy....

Plus, the chance of someone attempting to cut your hand off, or gouge out your eyes is greatly reduced if you don't use biometrics.

ian_heath · 03-30-2008, 04:56 PM

Mmmm kay

Im supposed to believe that someone is more likely to either cut off my hand when im not looking or to somehow seize my correct prints off a surface and then use forensic technology to recreate my print using ballistic gelatin , and these are more likely outcomes than someone just guessing my (rather simple) password??

*BUSTED*

-LONGBOW- · 03-30-2008, 05:08 PM

True, but passwords cost zip and they don't have to be simple. It's your money.

That last bit was a joke

(knew I should have used a smiley!)

Depends on what you use it for I suppose. I wouldn't go showing it off to people and then storing your banking info on it for instance.

*removes cuffs*

03-18-2008, 07:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
ian_heath Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Posts: 110 OS: XP Prof. SP2	USB Biometric drives. Worth getting? Hey all Was thinking of picking up a good deal on a USB Biometric scanner/flash drive to use mainly to log into secure online sites (such as yahoo, facebook etc) and i know my mate who has this built into his new HP laptop can configure his to do this (i believe the device has verisign authentication) anyone know what the deal is? do ALL these devices support this or do i need to shop for ones only offering the magic seal? cheers Ian __________________ <My System> C2D E8400 (O/Clocked) .. T/Take CLW0076 W/COOLING (CPU) .. XFX 8800GTX 768mb .. ASUS P5B Deluxe{BIOS v1226] .. 2X CORSAIR DDR2 PC2-6400 C4 1gb .. 4X WD SATA 160g (RAID0) + WD IDE 250g HD .. 2x SATA 20xDVD Burners .. S/B X-FI EXTREME AUDIO 7.1 .. T/Take T/Power 750w PSU .. XP SP3 (OEM) .. ANTEC P180B CASE

03-30-2008, 04:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
-LONGBOW- Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 28 OS: Windows XP Pro Unattended SP2	Re: USB Biometric drives. Worth getting? Passwords are better in my opinion, I watched the MYTHBUSTERS Crack one of those things pretty easily, If you call snagging someone's prints, and making an artificial thumbrint using photographic techniques and gelatin easy.... Plus, the chance of someone attempting to cut your hand off, or gouge out your eyes is greatly reduced if you don't use biometrics.

03-30-2008, 04:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
ian_heath Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Posts: 110 OS: XP Prof. SP2	Re: USB Biometric drives. Worth getting? Mmmm kay Im supposed to believe that someone is more likely to either cut off my hand when im not looking or to somehow seize my correct prints off a surface and then use forensic technology to recreate my print using ballistic gelatin , and these are more likely outcomes than someone just guessing my (rather simple) password?? BUSTED __________________ <My System> C2D E8400 (O/Clocked) .. T/Take CLW0076 W/COOLING (CPU) .. XFX 8800GTX 768mb .. ASUS P5B Deluxe{BIOS v1226] .. 2X CORSAIR DDR2 PC2-6400 C4 1gb .. 4X WD SATA 160g (RAID0) + WD IDE 250g HD .. 2x SATA 20xDVD Burners .. S/B X-FI EXTREME AUDIO 7.1 .. T/Take T/Power 750w PSU .. XP SP3 (OEM) .. ANTEC P180B CASE

03-30-2008, 05:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
-LONGBOW- Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 28 OS: Windows XP Pro Unattended SP2	Re: USB Biometric drives. Worth getting? True, but passwords cost zip and they don't have to be simple. It's your money. That last bit was a joke (knew I should have used a smiley!) Depends on what you use it for I suppose. I wouldn't go showing it off to people and then storing your banking info on it for instance. removes cuffs Last edited by -LONGBOW-; 03-30-2008 at 05:11 PM.