Biometric mouse offers hands-on security

A biometric mouse which records images of the veins in a user's hand is the latest tool developed to increase IT security.

The Fujitsu-Siemens device captures an image of the user's veins, which is as individual as a fingerprint but harder to fake.

An infrared light source illuminates the network of blood vessels in the palm as black lines, and a digital camera records the image through an aperture in the top of the mouse.

The device will be available to corporates next year, and in tests correctly identified 700 users from their handprint. For the mass market Fujitsu-Siemens is predicting an error rate of less than 0.5 per cent.

The company was among the first to introduce fingerprint scanners contained within mice and keyboards. However, earlier this year Japanese cryptographer Tsutomu Matsumoto showed that it was possible to defeat such scanners.

This new method does not rely on an external fingerprint and, as such, is much harder to fool. The network of blood vessels is unchanging and is not affected by dirt or skin damage, as is the case with fingerprints.

In addition the size of the blood vessels is not significantly altered by age or medicines that affect blood supply.

According to analysts Gartner, the worldwide biometrics market will be worth over £300m next year, with the bulk of the spending in large enterprises and governments.