Intel aims to make passwords obsolete

Passwords for online banking, social networks and email could be making way for a wave of the hand, thanks to prototype technology developed by Intel that may make it to tablets and laptops.

Doing away with the need to remember passwords for growing numbers of online services, Intel researchers have developed a tablet with new software and a biometric sensor that allows recognition of the unique patterns of veins on a person's palm.

''The problem with passwords - we use too many of them, their rules are complex, and they differ for different websites,'' Sridhar Iyengar, director of security research at Intel Labs, said at the annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Thursday. ''There is a way out of it, and biometrics is an option.''

Demonstrating the technology, Iyengar quickly waved his hand in front of a tablet, but did not touch it. Once the tablet recognises a user, it can communicate in a secure manner the identity of the person to banks, social networks and other services where the person had accounts.

According to Iyer, making laptops, tablets and smartphones responsible for identifying users obviates the need for individual websites to do it, sparing the user the hassle of individually entering passwords into each of them.

''We plan to work with service providers to take full advantage of this,'' he said.