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Single sing on

No, it is not a misprint. New technology from Beepcard - locally distributed and supported by Cirrus-Tech Vue - means that your credit card can now authenticate itself by 'singing' into a telephone, cellphone or any PC with a microphone.

Beepcard's ComDot card looks like a standard credit card and meets ISO credit standards, but its unique feature is a built-in button that, when activated, emits an audible squawk. The squawk is an audio encoding of an encrypted card ID and a one-time password. This is relayed to an authentication server that confirms the authenticity of the card and can then authorise transactions, possibly further requesting a PIN.

It is a simple, elegant concept that is rich with possibilities. There are many ways of verifying documents and cards, but they are generally either easily falsified (as in credit card 'skimming') or involve special readers or equipment. With the ComDot, all you need is an audio channel, and because the information is easily transmitted in a machine-readable form, the authentication server and response system can be fully automated.

One of the most obvious applications is to enable login to Internet banking: you can use a public PC such as in an Internet café with peace of mind. Even if someone records the card's song, it will not help him or her because every password is usable once and only once. But there are more innovative ideas that open up: suppose for example that your driver's licence was a ComDot. Anyone wanting to verify your identity would only need to point the card at a telephone to get a response verifying the licence itself, and giving the full names of the owner, say. Or, more interesting still, if accessed via a cellphone it could return relevant details by SMS, or even send a photograph of the holder by MMS.

Beepcard has more interesting products in the pipeline, where the card would incorporate biometrics in the form of a fingerprint reader or voice recognition. The technology exists to ensure that the ComDot would only activate if pressed by the owner's finger, or on command from the owner's voice.

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