. . . consumers receive the Eikon USB fingerprint security solution. From the talented staff at secure biometrics company UPEK and authentication solution provider RSA, The Security Division of EMC comes a USB fingerprint reader that will relieve a user from a most impossible task: remembering passwords.

From UPEK:

Passwords are a pain. We’re forced to use passwords to access our online personal accounts (banks, credit cards, email, etc.) and work-related applications (VPN, CRM, etc.). We even have passwords for logging into Windows® and allowing tasks prompted by Vista’s™ User Account Control (UAC). Requirements based on password length and use of capitalization, numbers and symbols result in countless different passwords that are hard to manage. How often do you rely on the “Forget password?” link to have your password emailed to you?

Passwords are vulnerable. In order to cope with countless different passwords, we often write them down on sticky notes or in a spreadsheet. Doing so exposes your personal accounts to someone who walks by your computer, who steals your PC, or who mines for such data online. Using a common password offers thieves a one-stop-shop for the keys to your accounts, while using simple or obvious passwords such as your pet’s name are susceptible to remote hacking.

If you saw you’re nervous about using fingerprints, UPEK assures us:

Relax. Your fingerprint image is not stored, only a handful of unique features called a “template” which are extracted from your fingerprint and cannot be used to reconstruct an image. Also, concerns related to fingerprints are exaggerated - we leave our fingerprints on objects everyday such as cell phones, drinking glasses, doorknobs, etc. The point is: a simple fingerprint image cannot be used to “spoof” or be “inserted” into a UPEK fingerprint reader.