Technology Backgrounder
Fingerprint Sensor IC Technology
Simple Fingerprint-Based Security
Protects Notebook PCs
Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc.
September 2006
| Contents | |
| Introduction | 2 |
| Growing Demand for Notebook Security | 2 |
| The User’s View of Fingerprint Authentication | 3 |
| MBF320 Fingerprint Sweep Sensor IC | 3 |
| PC Software/Firmware | 4 |
| Integrated Authentication System | 5 |
Introduction
Lost or stolen notebook computers make headlines when they contain personal information on millions of people or data from nuclear weapons research. More quietly, corporations are becoming increasingly alarmed by the loss of notebooks that contain company-confidential information and enable access to corporate networks. Given that many thousands of notebooks go missing every year, increasing numbers of companies and government agencies are looking for security solutions.
These solutions typically begin with tightened policies on the use of employee notebooks and—as these measures inevitably fail to prevent security breaches—expand toward technological solutions. Data encryption is a good step, but when users’ passwords are compromised along with their notebooks, thieves instantly gain access to the data. Even if password protection is unbroken on encrypted files, the temporary files stored by widely used Windows applications leave un-encrypted data on a disk for access by thieves.
The key to locking up notebook data successfully is to prevent thieves from gaining any access to notebook functions that enable data retrieval—in other words, keep unauthorized users from even booting the operating system. This lock-up requires two pieces of technology that are readily available today: an authentication step built into the machine’s BIOS and an authentication method that is extremely difficult to compromise. Fingerprint matching is such a method. It relies on compact, low-power hardware and pre-integrated software that is highly accurate and easy to use. Unlike plug-in tokens, fingerprints cannot be lost or stolen.
This technology backgrounder describes a complete pre-boot authentication (PBA) system for x86-based PCs that includes the following low-cost hardware and software/firmware:
- The Fujitsu Microelectronics MBF320 fingerprint Sweep Sensor™ IC
- Pre-boot user authentication powered by TrustedCore PBA from Phoenix Technologies
- Cogent Systems’ fingerprint-matching algorithms
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