Hauppauge, N.Y. – Voxx Electronics has begun rolling out the myris iris scanner to prevent the theft of online users’ identities and make it more convenient to access password-protected sites.
The handheld device, retailing for a suggested $279, connects via USB to a PC and identifies an authorized user by their iris patterns. That makes it unnecessary for people to remember and enter different user names and passwords every time they log onto different online accounts, log onto a computer, or access protected files or programs. Because users no longer have to tap a keyboard to enter user names and passwords, myris thwarts spy software that monitors keyboard clicks.
The device will be available Nov. 14 through such retailers as Best Buy, Staples, hhgregg, Fry’s Electronics, and online at apple.com.
It works like this:
Users create complex user names and passwords for different online accounts, such as banking accounts. The myris device uses military-grade AES256 encryption to store the user names and passwords in its memory. To log into online accounts, users hold myris up to their eyes, and the encrypted user name and password are sent over USB to the online account, said Anthony Antolino. He is chief marketing and business development officer for eyeLock, the authentication solution provider that developed the device.
Voxx, which has invested in EyeLock, has exclusive retail distribution rights in the U.S. and Europe.
EyeLock has also struck a deal with Wistron, one of the top five ODM computer makers, to build myris technology into future computers, smartphones and tablets, Antolino said. The myris device, he said, is targeted to users of legacy PCs and PCs lacking the authentication technology.
The device is compatible with Mac and Windows 7 and 8 computers and will be compatible “very soon” with the Chrome OS, Antolino said.
He also sees big potential in the enterprise market.
The myris device scans both retinas through glasses and contact lenses. Because myris scans both retinas, there is a one-in-2.25-trillion chance that someone else’s irises, even a identical twin’s, will unlock an account, a spokesperson said. A user has to be alive for a successful scan to take place, the spokesperson added.
Up to five users can store encrypted user names and passwords on one myris, and an administrator can view other users’ log-in history.
To set up myris, users log onto an account to enter a new user name and password. The user is then prompted to scan their irises. Once a user sets up multiple accounts, a myris dashboard appearing on the PC displays myris-protected sites to access.
