IS IT TIME FOR THE PASSWORD TO DIE?
Those of us who have grown up with computers have become accustomed to the idea of a password. But now, new technology is bringing us more options to secure our data. Read on.
In the old times of caves and bandits and spies, the secret password that unlocks everything has captured our imaginations. Whether it is Ali Baba who says ‘Open Sesame’ to gain entrance into the cave of treasure, or if it is James Bond who mouths something cryptic like ‘I’m brushing up on my Danish’, we all have become used to the password, a string of characters that lets us into things, most often computers.
But here are four new technologies that plan to kill the password.
1. Wearables. In 2015, you can strap an Apple computer to your body like a watch. On new jawbone-inspired design called Everykey claims to unlock everything for you, from your computer to your phone to your front door. This doesn’t require anything else than a simple raising and pointing. Nothing tedious like entering keys into a screen.
2. Fingerprint ID. These have already entered the mainstream. The only problem with this is they’re easily dupable, because people tend to leave fingerprints everywhere, which a clever conman can ‘borrow’ at will. But if the flaws are ironed out, they promise to be a great alternative to passwords.
3. Facial recognition. The idea of allowing computers to recognise their owners by looking at their faces has been around for decades. But it’s only now that they’re getting better at performance. Facebook’s internal recognition software is approaching human-like performance. Soon, all you will need to do is sit in front of your machine and it will log you in.
4. Iris Scanners. These are not the same as retina scanners. Iris scanners are incredibly accurate, and are now available at affordable prices. You can use them to secure anything, from bank accounts to Facebook profiles.
