Category Archives: Security Reviews
Personal Networks of the Future: The MAGNET project
With the improvement of wireless technologies and a decrease in their cost, more and more devices come with network connectivity built in. From Wifi to Bluetooth to 3G, more and more devices are becoming wireless capable. A recent article from … Continue reading
Security Review: Pandemic Prevention
According to a New Scientist Article, a company called Biorics wants to control the spread of pandemic disease by dispersing “cough-detecting” microphones throughout airport lounges. The proposed technology would detect coughing passengers and distinguish a common-cold-like cough from one that … Continue reading
Security Review: Fingerprint Scanners
Fingerprint identification is the oldest biometric method. Everybody has a set of unique fingerprints, formed by the ridges and valleys on the skin. Fingerprints have been used in many fields, such as crime scene investigation and criminal database to identify people. In terms of technology, biometrics are used as an authentication method, alone or in combination of other techniques, such as password or another biometric forms.
A fingerprint scanner collects, prints, and creates images that can then be analyzed and compared to images already on record. Optical and capacitance are the two major scanners used on the market to collect and analyze fingerprints. An optical scanner works like a digital camera where it collects data on the light reflected off of one’s fingerprints. The lightness/darkness of the reflection is created by ridges and valleys on the skin. A capacitance scanner also creates an image of one’s print; however, it uses electrical current and conductivity to mark the light/darkness area of the print.
After an image collection, a fingerprint scanner system compares specific features of the print (or minutiae), such as angle of certain ridge/valley, location of circles, etc. To get a match, the system doesn’t need to find every pattern in both the sample and the record, it just needs enough matches, and threshold varies. Continue reading
Security Review: Lexus “Talking” GPS
With the increasing role that technology is playing in our lives, it was inevitable that we’d reach the point where we too could enjoy the luxury of a talking car, such as the infamous KITT from Knight Rider. The convenience … Continue reading
Verizon VoIP House Phone Hub
Nowadays, traditional phone service is not widely used. As stated in an article from http://www.technewsworld.com, “VoIP phones are growing in popularity — and 20 to 25 percent of customers are canceling home phone service.” In order to maintain Verizon’s customers … Continue reading
Obama’s Blackberry Security Review
It looks like, after much debate, Obama will be allowed to continue to use a smart phone (From most articles I have read, it seems unclear whether the phone will still be the Blackberry he seemed to like so much, … Continue reading
Security Review: Electronic Medical Records
Now that computers have reached the mainstream, demand for online services is increasing. Recently, this has come to include access to medical records over the Internet. The existence of products such as Microsoft’s HealthVault and Google’s Google Health demonstrates the … Continue reading
Security Review: Implantable Drug Delivery Device
Companies such as the Massachusetts-based biotech company, MicroCHIPS, are developing what they call “intelligent implanted devices” for long-term internal patient monitoring and treatment. Patients which would normally require frequent blood tests, monitoring, or drug injections can instead implant a device … Continue reading
Security Review: UW Bookstore
Everyone knows the bookstore sells books only after a tremendous markup. But does that really mean they can afford to employ lax security? Consider the situation of the books department: all of the textbooks for every class in the university … Continue reading
Security Review: Edible Chips
The California based company Proteus has created an edible computer chip designed to mark a new way of monitoring patient drug intake. The process involves two pieces of technology: a small chip containing sensors and a small patch worn by … Continue reading