H-P makes inroads with biometric technology

Biometric technology is taking another leap toward widespread usage as Hewlett-Packard Co. ships new laptops with fingerprint readers.

The nx6125 notebook PC includes a fingerprint sensor made by AuthenTec Inc., which says HP is the biggest computer maker to offer a biometric reader as standard equipment. The computer, aimed at the business market, sells for $1,000 and up.

Fingerprint biometrics are a more secure and convenient alternative to passwords, which are often forgotten or stolen. But only in recent years has the technology’s accuracy improved to the point where it could confidently be deployed in a wide range of consumer applications.

Having computers ship with biometric capabilities built-in could prompt more Web sites to adopt two-factor authentication schemes requiring a second ID check beyond the simple password. Such security measures are common in many European countries, though the second verification is still generally provided as another form of password rather than a biometric ID.

Iran tries to block Internet content

The Iranian government has tightened its control over the Internet, increasingly blocking content in its national language of Farsi and restricting what citizens can publish through Web journals, Western researchers say.

Iran shows a sophistication in filtering seen only in China and a few other countries, adapting its techniques as use of the Internet evolves, said John Palfrey, a Harvard University researcher who studied censorship in Iran for the OpenNet Initiative.

Before, the targets were mostly static English Web sites located in the United States and Europe.

But with the rise of Web journals, or blogs, Internet service providers are being ordered to prevent Iranians from reaching other Iranians directly, blocking them from posting messages containing certain Farsi keywords, Palfrey said.

The strategy makes sense because citizens “most likely are to be most interested in and energized by information in their own language,” said Ron Deibert, a University of Toronto professor who also served as a principal investigator for the study.

Tech has too few women, minorities

Women and some racial minorities are “significantly underrepresented” in the U.S. technology industry, according to a new study from the industry’s trade group.

Women made up 32 percent of the tech work force in 2004, a drop from 41 percent at its peak in 1996. That’s largely because of the shrinking number of administrative jobs in the tech industry, the Arlington, Va.-based Information Technology Association of America said.

Hispanics were the most underrepresented racial group, according to the ITAA’s analysis of data from U.S. Department of Labor.