Windows 8.1 to let you secure folders with fingerprint

The update to Windows 8 will natively support fingerprint recognition, letting users sign into accounts and lock down folders with a single swipe.

Read more at: Windows 8.1 to let you secure folders with your fingerprint | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[pparks1]

That would be a nice feature. My new laptop has a fingerprint reader and I use it to log into Windows. It would be nice to be able to lock down specific files or folders with it.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Aye....that is a cool feature.

 

[z3r010]

I like that lots.

 

[McRuff]

No not for me. I am sure I saw this one time in a movie, in a scene involving a set of bolt cutters.

 

[Hopachi]

Yes. "It's a nice feature"... to see... but let's hope hackers won't need to learn how to cut fingers to keep their jobs. LOL

I won't be using it for the moment.

No not for me. I am sure I saw this one time in a movie, in a scene involving a set of bolt cutters.

 

[Enigma]

This reminds me of a cold-boot attack method that can be used to gain access to the contents of an encrypted drive/partition/volume (I use full disk encryption so that's why I mention this). All encryption programs store your passkey in RAM, and RAM is believed to be volatile, it's supposed to be completely flushed within a few minutes of powering off. But if an attacker can gain access to your RAM sticks within a very short time of your PC being powered off, they can freeze it for awhile with a can of compressed air and then extract your key from memory with forensics tools. This helps preserve the contents long enough for them to get at your passkey. I suppose any fingerprint authentication program works in a similar way, so if your digitized fingerprint can be extracted from RAM then theoretically they could use that to authenticate as you, without needing your actual finger or a biometric device. As things stand now there's not really anything that can be done to prevent this, except for engineers to rethink how RAM is designed to work.

Just thought I'd put something out there.

 

[McRuff]

but let's hope hackers won't need to learn how to cut fingers to keep their jobs.

I wonder where the name hackers came from?

 

[Hopachi]

This reminds me of a cold-boot attack method that can be used to gain access to the contents of an encrypted drive/partition/volume (I use full disk encryption so that's why I mention this). All encryption programs store your passkey in RAM, and RAM is believed to be volatile, it's supposed to be completely flushed within a few minutes of powering off. But if an attacker can gain access to your RAM sticks within a very short time of your PC being powered off, they can freeze it for awhile with a can of compressed air and then extract your key from memory with forensics tools. This helps preserve the contents long enough for them to get at your passkey. I suppose any fingerprint authentication program works in a similar way, so if your digitized fingerprint can be extracted from RAM then theoretically they could use that to authenticate as you, without needing your actual finger or a biometric device.

Just thought I'd put something out there.

Thanks for the info.
All the things they come up with... you always get impressed by something.

 

[Hopachi]

but let's hope hackers won't need to learn how to cut fingers to keep their jobs.

I wonder where the name hackers came from?

Oops! Some joke I made there...
The topic is security after all, from there the hackers.
That all.

 

[z3r010]

No not for me. I am sure I saw this one time in a movie, in a scene involving a set of bolt cutters.

Are you that important?

 

[Hopachi]

First, we need a PC with bio-metric hardware/devices to be able to use the function, no rush.

There are some laptops having this feature so that will be usable in no time for those who need it.

Since I don't have a Surface: I wonder if this hardware will be included by default on the latest Surfaces.

Microsoft is "working very closely" with two or three manufacturers to outfit Windows 8.1 with the necessary fingerprint support, according to The Verge. The company is also asking more manufacturers to outfit their laptops, tablets, keyboards, and mice with fingerprint readers.

Then I should be guessing with a yes.

 

[z3r010]

I've just ordered this - UPEK TrueMe USB Secure Fingerprint Reader -No Software: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Hopefully it will work.

 

[Hopachi]

I've just ordered this - UPEK TrueMe USB Secure Fingerprint Reader -No Software: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Hopefully it will work.

I think that will do quite well for the price. It has (most) some decent reviews.

In case I get more interested in using the feature my laptop has one of those scanners built-in.
Since ages, typing passwords became a routine, to someone in the same situation it will feel a bit weird without that password in begin.

 

[Enigma]

What would be really interesting to see is retinal (not whole face) auth using a/the webcam. Or an external retinal scanner that connects via USB or Bluetooth (if that even exists yet, and at a decent price). But that would probably still be vulnerable to the same cold boot attacks against encryption.

 

[Hopachi]

But that would probably still be vulnerable to the same cold boot attacks against encryption.

But is there at least, something, invulnerable to those attacks?

 

[Enigma]

@ Hopachi: I really have no idea, awhile back I became interested in encryption and decided to start using it as an added layer of security and for protection of privacy. Encryption algorithms like AES are the standard right now and it really isnt viable to crack at this point in time as far as technology is concerned. You would have to brute-force the key and that would take many years or decades or even longer depending on the strength of the key (if your password is 'cat' it will take much less time to crack than 'fsh%gf;us&idubvisr8*wp93(rwefuvbsdkjcvs;.dh)xvcysda'. It's not that it cant be done, just that the time it takes is way too long to be reasonable.

It's even believed thatv the NSA cant crack AES. Awhile back a drug lord from South America had his PC confiscated by the FBI and he had TrueCrypt full disk encryption on it. They failed to crack it. If there is something invulnerable to those attacks, I'm not aware of it. Engineers basically need to redesign RAM so that the contents are completely flushed either immediately before shutdown, or immediately after (faster than it deteriorates now). And you can just use common sense practices by keeping your PC secure and (for laptops) in your sight at all times or just in a protected place. You can also find a way to manually flush RAM yourself. Many encryption programs have a function that will clear the key on demand. But they still have to keep it in memory at some point in time to encrypt/decrypt in real-time.

Other methos like fingerprints and retinal probably operate similar to encryption, since their main purpose is to deny access to data if you're not authorized. They would have to obfuscate the auth info in some way or another, and it probably has to be stored somewhere, if only for a minute amount of time. I dont know how they operate, it's just an educated guess.

 

[Hopachi]

@Enigma

Thanks for the input. We are pretty safe with AES right now, I agree.

Cheers!

 

[jaebberwock]

Would this be encryption based or would it simply restrict access on the desktop environment?

Either way it is pretty cool. I don't think I would use it in place of something like TrueCrypt but it would be useful for my 40GB 2012 "tax" folder.

 

[Coke Robot]

No not for me. I am sure I saw this one time in a movie, in a scene involving a set of bolt cutters.

Interesting you mention that, as Microsoft is working with Fingerprint Cards (company that OBVIOUSLY does something with fingerprints) to produce high quality scanners that make sure your finger is alive and working.
Windows 8.1 will focus on biometrics for authentication [Update] - Neowin