Tuesday May 2, 2000
Microsoft Corp. Tuesday took a major step to support biometrics, the security technology that uses fingerprints and eyeballs as an alternative to passwords to verify a computer user’s identity. The company acquired biometric authentication technology from I/O Software Inc. and said it will begin incorporating it into its Windows software
as early as this summer. Biometrics have long been promoted as a more secure and convenient alternative to passwords, social security numbers or even mothers’ maiden names, which can be hard to remember and may easily fall into the wrong hands. Industry experts say Microsoft’s move could be pivotal in helping to speed widespread adoption.
Unlike passwords, it is virtually impossible for so-called biometric keys to get into the wrong hands, since the fingerprint is a literally part of the individual user’s hand. But while many computer users would happily swap a long list of passwords for a simple fingerprint reader, such biometric technology has until recently been prohibitively costly.
Microsoft says it plans to offer biometrics support to users of its Windows 2000 software by this summer and will fully incorporate the security into Windows in the future.
So the question begs once again, “Is Microsoft’s Biometrics the Mark of the Beast?” The answer is, “No”, of course not. However, it remains to be seen whether biometric technology will be encorporated in the real Mark of the Beast when the time arrives. There will be no mistaking it when it happens, so people don’t need to worry about ‘accidentally’ agreeing to accept ‘the mark’ and being damned to Hell as a consequence, that’s not how it works.
Wouldn’t it be something if the mark has nothing to do with technology?