U.are.U. Personal For Windows XP/
U.are.U Pro

By Adam Altman
Technology Editor, TMC Labs

Fingerprint identification is one of the most commonly discussed forms of biometrics and may be the most practical method of replacing passwords and smart cards, which have the tendency to be forgotten, lost, or stolen. Each finger of every individual has a unique print associated with it, allowing for an extremely secure means of identification. Through their Fingerprint Recognition Engine, DigitalPersona has created a USB-enabled product called U.are.U Personal for Windows XP. The product enables home and small business users to further safeguard their documents, Windows accounts, and password-protected Internet sites, such as e-mail or financial sites, with only one touch of a finger. Furthermore, Fast User Switching is included with the product so that end users can switch accounts by simply touching a registered finger to the sensor. In this way, anyone registered can quickly obtain access to a private account without first logging off of a different account.

While end users will not find the Windows conventions for the U.are.U Personal GUI to be strange, it may take a little adjusting to understand the details of this new technology. But the help files/users guide and reviewers guide go a long way to alleviate the initial new technology blues. I was in awe after initially seeing the U.are.U device. Yes, it only looked like a little oval mirror in a small box, but it was the red glare of the sensor that drew my attention.

After my brief inspection and encounter with the red reflection, I installed the software, booted my computer, entered my XP password, plugged in the device, and touched the sensor to bring up the Finger Registration Wizard. The wizard was an absolute breeze to go through. I simply registered the fingers I wanted to use by clicking on the appropriate finger and touching the sensor four times with that finger, repeating these steps for each finger I wanted the sensor to recognize (Figure 1). In minutes, this whole process was finished. I didnt even need to use the wizard again unless I wanted to register more of my fingers or help someone register as a new user.

To access all of the features, I simply needed to place my registered finger on the sensor, and the one-touch menu appeared (Figure 2) -- hence its name. From this menu, I could replace Web site or application passwords, set up quick links to these authenticated sites, encrypt/decrypt files using a 128-bit key with RSA type encryption, and change the user settings for the U.are.U Personal application. Each of these tasks was very easy to accomplish -- they simply involved basic Windows conventions of dragging and dropping, adding fingerprint-protected sites as a quick link as if they were simple bookmarks, choosing files to encrypt/decrypt, or checking/unchecking specific user settings. Once these are set up, U.are.U Personal becomes a pleasure to use -- no need for passwords, no worries about security, and the sensor nearly always recognized my registered finger immediately.

SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS

However, I do have a few suggestions that would slightly improve the product. Currently, profiles for the Replace Passwords feature can be edited to correct a typo for a user name or password, but users cannot edit other settings, such as checking/unchecking the Add Enter Key To Submit Logon box. So in this case, a user must entirely redo the profile instead. I also think that users should be able to edit profiles by right clicking on the quick link. In addition, having the option to lock the workstation through the Digital Persona sensor or signing out of an Internet site or an application might simply be done with a registered finger used only for logging off. These options can be offered in a check/uncheck box format. Currently, locking a workstation is all that can be done -- by right-clicking on the U.are.U icon located on the bottom-right corner of the screen.

PUTTING IT TO THE TEST

Of course, as a Labs engineer, I tested the sensor by trying non-registered fingers and letting others try it just in case I might find a breach in security. Since fingerprints are indeed unique, I was not surprised to see that no one could breach my protected sites, applications, or personal Windows XP logon. However, I was impressed how other registered users could access their own Windows XP logon without logging off my account first. They simply pressed their finger to the sensor, and the Fast User Switching XP functionality in conjunction with U.are.U Personal did that for them. 

From there, my testing of the product became more capricious. Knowing full well that Fast User Switching (essential to the success of U.are.U Personal) does not work with domains, I changed to my domain account and tried to log in anyway by using the sensor. As expected, I could not do so, but after typing in my domain password, I could use U.are.U Personal for any feature that did not involve the use of XPs Fast User Switching (for example, I could still access my password-protected Web sites and encrypt/decrypt files).

Adding another wrinkle to my testing, I changed from a domain to a workgroup setting to see whether or not I could log in through the sensor or at least perform the same functions as I did when logged onto my network domain. The short answer to these testing results is that the U.are.U Personal application did not work properly, primarily because we had trouble logging into the Windows XP account and the one-touch menu would not always appear, even when the sensor recognized my fingerprint. With that said, it is important to note that U.are.U Personal is not meant to work with domains because it is essentially created for home or small business users. Although home users are set up for XP in the same fashion as a workgroup, I think it was my messing with a domain that caused these errors. So while I obviously think this testing is worth mentioning, I cannot fault the product for its inability to perform a feat that it was not meant to do.

However, this testing did spark my interest in DigitalPersonas U.are.U Pro, which is designed for larger companies to work with domains. Since this application does work with the same type of sensor as U.are.U Personal, all I needed to do was acquire the Pro software to test the product.