myIDkey Fingerprint: Passwords At The Tip Of Your Finger
Twenty years ago, you only needed to remember was two or three passwords, tops (likely for your AOL and Hotmail accounts – and chances are you used the same password for both). Ah, those were the days when the World Wide Web was a wild frontier of unsecured websites. These days, however, you probably have dozens of complicated passwords to keep track of – or at least we hope so if you want to protect your online security. There are many password managers out there, such as LastPass and 1Password, that can help keep you safe, but the myIDkey Bluetooth flash drive adds an extra layer of security on top of what those managers can offer.
Arkami has been floating its solution around for a bit, showing off its progress at CES and the like, and now the company is ready to get the public involved (or, the public’s money, rather) by way of a newly opened Kickstarter campaign for myIDkey.
myIDkey is a USB stick that keeps data safer through the use of biometrics. To unlock it, the owner has to swipe their finger, and it then shows them their passwords and account info. myIDkey is a secure drive that stores passwords and ID on the go and it works with mobile devices and computers.
Like most other USB password keys, you can plug myIDkey into a computer and it will auto- complete your information into pertinent forms. You can also store documents and files on it like a regular USB drive. What’s cooler, though, is the voice-search function. Say the name of your bank, for example, and the key will show the information on an OLED display. Not just anyone can talk to the key and get results, though. You first have to unlock it by swiping your finger.
If the fingerprint isn’t enough security for you, you can also optionally set up a tap sequence to go along with it. For example, you might want the key to unlock only after you’ve scanned your thumb and tapped on it twice.
The myIDkey can work with a smartphone app and back up your data online as well. This is handy should your key ever get lost or stolen. After enough failed attempts to access it, the key will wipe itself of data, kind of like a “Mission: Impossible” device. You can restore the data or load it onto a new key using the backup system.
Source: myIDkey