I remember how (naively) excited I was years ago when my new laptop came pre-installed with a fingerprint sensor for security. I never got it working, though, and I do mean NEVER. Dutifully swiping my finger as instructed produced inconsistent results, and I worried that if I did get it working, I might find myself locked out of my own device at some point.
But that was years ago, and now Microsoft is trumpeting its new biometric feature, Windows Hello.
I think contributor Joe Cadillic sums it all up in this comment he sent with a link to the blog post:
Giving your biometrics to Microsoft? Are You Fucking Joking?
I hear you, Joe. I hear you. But I’d also like to hear from security professionals as to whether they think Windows Hello is a solid approach. Microsoft explains (and did they realize how many of us would flash back to “Sneakers” while reading this?):
Windows 10 will ask you to verify that you have possession of your device before it authenticates on your behalf, with a PIN or Windows Hello on devices with biometric sensors. Once authenticated with “Passport”, you will be able to instantly access a growing set of websites and services across a range of industries – favorite commerce sites, email and social networking services, financial institutions, business networks and more.
“Passport” also will work with thousands of enterprise Azure Active Directory services at launch, and Microsoft has joined the FIDO alliance to support replacing passwords with a growing set of financial, consumer, and other security services over time. Windows 10 will also have industry-leading security and identity protection for enterprises, so they can deploy new Windows 10 devices with hardware necessary to use Windows Hello, enabling enterprise-grade protection of the device and more secure password-free authentication to enterprise line of business applications.
So years later, will I now be using a biometric sensor to authenticate?
Stay tuned….