Now here's an interesting little technology tidbit for investing. I wonder if this will catch on?
Researchers: Typing Style Can Be Password
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Feb 17, 3:22 PM (ET)
RUSTON, La. (AP) - The way you type is as unique as your eye color or speech patterns and can be used instead of a password to protect your computer, researchers at Louisiana Tech and Penn State say.
Their discovery will bring Louisiana Tech its first direct royalty income, university president Daniel D. Reneau said in signing a joint licensing agreement with BioPassword Inc. of Issaquah, Wash.
Vir Phoha, associate professor of computer science, and former graduate student Sunil Babu worked with others at The Pennsylvania State University to create the technology over five years of research.
"We look at the time between keystrokes, and the time it takes to press a key," Phoha said.
A percentage of the royalties will be plowed back into the research program, Phoha added.
BioPassword holds the rights to several patents on such software, according to its Web site.
The company says its programs should not be used as the only security system but in addition to passwords and other measures.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050217/D88AFQ5O0.htmlAnd if file sharing wins in the Supreme Court, these guys might be on to something:
ALEX VEIGA
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new technology from Macrovision Corp. (MVSN) claims to block virtually all known methods for making unauthorized copies of DVDs.
The company's RipGuard DVD, launched this week, is designed to thwart cracking programs that get around the encryption system used in standard DVDs.
Macrovision also claims a related system to be used with RipGuard can foil attempts to make analog copies of DVDs. Such copies are made by connecting a video recorder to a DVD player's video and audio output jacks, a method that previous DVD copy protection software has failed to prevent fully.
Attempts to copy-protect DVDs and CDs have often been plagued by hardware compatibility problems or are easily thwarted using something as simple as a black marker or by holding down the "shift" key while accessing the content.
DVDs fitted with the new Macrovision technology do not require new software or hardware to be played and should be compatible with nearly all existing DVD players and DVD computer drives, the company says.
Whether Macrovision's new technology works as well as the company promises remains to be seen, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research in New York.
"The question is partially how well it works, how compatible it is, and how difficult it will be for somebody to find a way around it, if that's even possible," Gartenberg said. "The more secure you make something like this, the greater risk you run of incompatibility."
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050217/D88AFLP80.html