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Biometric Voice Recognition Credit Cards
securitas writes "New Scientist's Celeste Biever reports on the latest in biometric security devices: voice recognition credit cards. The device is three times the size of a normal credit card, has a 'microphone, a loudspeaker, a battery and a voice-recognition chip' and is intended to help reduce credit card fraud. The owner speaks a password into the card and the card emits an authentication squawk. Bruce Schneier loves the concept of BeepCard's related sound authentication technology. Other articles at the Telegraph and The Register."
Why would anybody want to carry a credit card 3x the size of their other cards?
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
how do I, the merchant, prove I 'heard' the squawk?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
What if you have a sore throat and try to go to the drug store for some medicine? If your voice is scratchy, will you be denied your medicine because your voice doesn't match?
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Fresh Deals
Not only will it have Voice Recognition, it will have voice synthesis to communicate to the user! I can see it now...
"I can't let you buy that, Dave."
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."
- Seneca
...what does this mean for mimes?
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Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
The smaller chips are a relief, just reading the article one of my butt cheeks was falling asleep:P
Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
Seriously though... so much for using this over the net.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
The main goal is to get people to spend money they dont have so that they can pay off the interest for the rest of their life.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Dave: Open my account, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave: What do you mean?
HAL: Dave, you're trying to save up for retirement, remember? You'll just spend all that money on beer, won't you?
Dave: What the? Dammit ... just open the account, HAL!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
Dave: AAAARRRRGH!
I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
Smart cards are similar to credit cards and serve the same purpose, but they have a completely different data storage system. Instead of using a magnetic strip to store the user's information, smart cards feature an embedded 8-bit microprocessor with up to 16 kilobytes of programmable-only memory. Smart cards have only recently began to gain popularity in the United States, despite their widespread use in Europe for years.
Domain Dynamics' new TESPAR voice authenticator stores three samples of the user's voice on a template within the Java-based smart card. When users want to make a transaction, they simply enter the card into a terminal at a store and give a speech sample. The card then matches the spoken voice to the recorded voice samples, a process that takes a fraction of the second. The company said that TESPAR is able to handle day-to-day variations in the user's voice and can ignore background noise.
Read more here.
Read the article but still not sure how it would stop a man-in-the-middle? True it would require that you disrupted communication but thats feasable - eg if someone is using their card on their cell-phone, kick in a cell-phone jammer as soon as the person speaks into the card, the card still plays the sound for you to record it but it doesnt get through the call? it could also work the same way on a comprimised computer or malicious web-site (think IE browser bug that allows your active-x to hi-jack someone elses)?
People have to remember that the transaction isnt secure until its been made.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
I wonder how successful this will be.
This seems to be one of those technologies that either flop or revolutionize the way business is done.
It's a nice concept, but what happens when someone "loses their voice", so to speak? Can't buy anything until with it until their voice returns? How well does it interact with accents, background noise, etc?
I don't know how feasible this is but I'd imagine a thumbprint-sensitive card would be much more easier to deal with.
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Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
The benefit of biometrics should be that people don't have to remember more password. The fact that people can't (or don't want to) remember passwords is a good reason to be working on technologies where you can be identified by your voice or fingerprint rather than a string of characters.
I'd rather be lucky than good.
Why do I like this? It's a physical authentication system that doesn't require any special reader hardware
I don't see why a microphone is any less special than a USB port or an IR port. If anything, just about any computer these days has a USB port.
And using IR for authentication, many modern phones and almost all modern PDAs will do; all you need to do is plug an IR dongle costing a few dollars (in quantity) into the USB port. And IR can be made interference proof much more easily than sound.
...seem fairly obvious. First, if one of these devices is at a public terminal, it wouldn't be hard at all to get a .wav record of the transaction; then, I have your password FOR LIFE!
Second, if someone's voice is drastically altered, (s)he would have to find a way to prove identity outside of the voice recognition system.
Third, any technology that might let me verify someone's voiceprint could also be used to generate a false voiceprint. A simple tape recording of you talking could be enough to forge your voice electronically. (Hmmm... cool plot possibilities for a Tom Clancey thriller)
Fourth, my (hypothetical) twin, who probably has an almost-identical voiceprint, is not necessarily to be trusted.
Human being (n.): A genetically human, genetically distinct, functioning organism.
My company is making a new creditcard system too. Our card will feature the CinderBlock (TM) theft prevention system. Essentially using the latest technolodgies we have embedded a magstip on a 16'x6'x8' piece of concrete. Its weight alone makes a quick snatch from an unsuspecting individual that much more unlikely. And in the event of a successful theft it features ValueBlast brand thermite and a OnStar(TM) accessible detonator. One push of a button and some poor theif just lost his arm, but your credit is secure.
Please call 1-800-URB-ROKE for more information.
There is nothing wrong with being gay. It's getting caught where the trouble lies.