PayPal says Finger Print with takeover Passwords

PayPal is finding a better way for its users to keep their account secured and hack-free. With all those news on hackers being able to break passwords and user identities, it’s time to say goodbye to the 50-year old password dependent technology and switch to a more high-tech and futuristic identity authentication system.

The idea was introduced by Michael Barrett who is the chief information security officer of PayPal. He believes that passwords and PINs are a thing of the past and it’s about time that we use a new standard for Internet and computer security. He further believes that fingerprint scanners are not only trendy but also something that would find its way on several smartphones any time this year.

In order to give a clearer picture and perhaps attempting to sound humorous as well, Barrett has displayed an image of a tombstone with the words ‘R.I.P. password’ and the years 1961 – 2013 added. The slide showing the image was presented at the Interop IT conference wherein the password’s inevitable death was highlighted. Passwords can no longer keep up with demands of technology and we should be ready to adapt to a better and a more secure step in accessing our accounts.

Time and again, people are advised to concoct passwords that are strong and difficult to decipher. Since we now have multiple accounts in the social media, email, banking, and even online shopping, we think that it could be tiring to think of a unique password in all our accounts. We usually end up using an identical password and one ID in every account which can be safe at first since we wouldn’t have the trouble remembering it. In the long run, our password becomes vulnerable to illegal access as it lacked enough security measures from the very beginning.

Even if the biometrics technology that is suggested by Barrett becomes available, it should be noted that the ‘password habit’ is not that easy to break. It will take time before people can get the hang of biometrics and finally say goodbye to memorizing their password. Biometrics simply involves fingerprint scanners in confirming one’s identity. Hopefully it will only require fingers and not toes for hygiene reasons.