Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Microsoft Fingerprint Reader and Password Minder

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Microsoft Fingerprint Reader and Password Minder

Posted 2006-03-18 03:50 PM in ASP.NET | XML | Tools.

FingerPrintPasswordMinder I love my Microsoft Fingerprint Reader, and I use it all the time at home. I also love Keith Brown's Password Minder, it's where I keep all my secret stuff. I also keep the pa ssword file synchronized using FolderShare.

While the software that comes with the Fingerprint Reader will also store passwords, marrying them with your fingerprint, I like the idea of keeping my passwords in the pwd.xml file - it's more mobile and sync's nicely. I use the fingerprint login for a number of sites, but I keep my financial passwords super complex and in the Password Minder.

I never realized - doh! - that the Fingerprint Reader not only managed passwords for Web Sites, but Windows Programs as well.

This makes it twice as useful as I thought it was, and that was pretty useful.

Of course, the next obvious thing was to combine the two, hence the image at right. They work great together. Might seem stupid to use one password secret store to open another, but I thought it was cool. Now maybe I'll put them all on a TrueCrypt drive...mwahahahaha

Now playing: Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife, Part 1

Tracked by:
"KeePass" (SoftAgility) [Trackback]

Friday, March 17, 2006 11:30:40 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

If only Microsoft provided an SDK for this great little device so I could utilise it in my own .NET apps.

Jason Stangroome

Saturday, March 18, 2006 12:19:01 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Jason - what would you do with it? Look at http://www.griaule.com

Scott Hanselman

Saturday, March 18, 2006 6:02:08 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Scott,

You might want to check out axcrypt (http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net). It encrypts anything and uses shell extensions to make use convenient. I keep a text file with all my secrets (numbered swiss bank accounts, nsa bios, etc.). When I open the text file with notepad, it prompts for the key. I make my edits and exit. On exit, it quietly reencrypts.

Mike Ward

Saturday, March 18, 2006 8:43:45 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I'm still waiting for the news story.

"The prisoner escaped after cutting off a guards right and and walking through the 27 palm locked doors to the front gate"

Malcolm Anderson

Saturday, March 18, 2006 6:30:28 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

What's your opinion of roboform (www.roboform.com) and the usb solution Pass2go (www.roboform.com/pass2go.html)?

John Marsing

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 5:05:38 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I like the idea of having a key that is not physical (or biometric for that matter). I think I'm more comfortable with having a key that I can share with my wife in case anything happens to me that prevents me from providing the key (or worse).
Recently I was reading some articles complaining that this MS device is not very secure because you have to rest your finger on the sensor, eventually leaving traces of your fingerprint, as opposed to other sensors that you have to drag your finger over it, smudging any trace. Another article complained that the fingerprint info travels unencrypted from the device to the computer (as if keyboards were much different and more secure than that). It seems MS does not recommend this device for anything really serious, mostly for convenience.
Now, PWM + TrueCrypt, that one great duo that I'm getting more and more addicted to every day. All I needed to do was to come up with a single easy-to-remember-hard-to-break password and share it with my wife. And if you're asking how come I trust my wife that much...well, let's just say TrueCrypt's hidden volumes, takes care of that question (and keeps the wife innocently happy, LOL).