>Thursday June 21 4:50 PM ET
>
>New Security Card Lets Your Wallet Do the Talking
>
>
>
>By Adam Pasick
>
>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Want to access your medical records online, without
>exposing them to prying eyes? Just have your customized credit card say
>``open Sesame.''
>
>Hold the ComDot card, a new product from Tel Aviv-based ComSense
>Technologies Ltd., up to your computer's microphone and squeeze the slight
>bump in its center. Otherwise indistinguishable from a garden-variety
>credit card, it emits a high-pitched series of noises similar to that of a
>fax machine or dial-up modem.
>
>Because it communicates via sound, the ComDot doesn't require a
>specialized card reader like other ``smart'' cards -- only a computer with
>a sound card and a microphone. It is even designed to work over the telephone.
>
>``I think it's a great product,'' said Shalini Chowdhary, senior industry
>analyst for Frost and Sullivan. ``The main thing is that it doesn't
>require a reader -- that's its strongest point. ComSense has done a smart
>thing in going around the need for one.''
>
>One of the first companies to license the ComDot technology is iMetrikus
>Inc., operator of the MyHealthChannel Web site
>(<http://www.myhealthchannel.com>http://www.myhealthchannel.com). Starting
>on June 22, users will be able to use the cards to access accounts
>containing private medical information.
>
>Here's how it works: Visitors to MyHealthChannel are asked if they want to
>download a small program, similar to the plug-ins used in Web browsers.
>Once the program is installed, users hold their ComDot card up to their
>computer's microphone and squeeze.
>
>The card transmits an encrypted identifying code via high-frequency sound
>waves -- a long screech, followed by a lower-pitched warble. The computer
>then verifies the ID with the ComSense servers; the user enters a PIN
>(personal identification number) for added security, and the log-in is
>complete.
>
>The ComDot itself consists of a three-year battery, computer processor,
>two speakers and a small amount of memory. It never emits the exact same
>tone twice, so even if someone trying to gain unauthorized access to
>patient files were to record the sound and replay it, they would not succeed.
>
>Still, Chowdhary cautioned that no security system or encryption scheme is
>impregnable.
>
>``They claim that these frequencies change each time, but if somebody
>finds a way to crack the system ... hackers are getting better and
>better,'' she said. ``But that's a problem with every new technology.''
>
>ComSense says about 98 percent of computers currently sold have the
>necessary sound cards; for those that don't have microphones, an
>inexpensive one could be bundled with the service.
>
>After the initial installation of the ComSense software, squeezing the
>ComDot card will automatically take users to the MyHealthChannel Web site.
>
>San Diego-based iMetrikus sells its service to pharmaceutical companies,
>medical device manufacturers and disease management firms. A company that
>makes glucose monitors for diabetics, for example, could have users upload
>their blood sugar levels to the Web site, and send out customized warnings
>and messages.
>
>``Fear about privacy is the single biggest factor that prevents people
>from using the Web to manage health information,'' said iMetrikus' Darrell
>Atkins.
>
>Atkins said the company also plans to let patients use the ComDot to allow
>doctors, therapists and other health care providers access to their records.
>
>Although ComSense is starting off with medical privacy, it has much bigger
>plans, starting with the lucrative financial services industry. Notably,
>VISA International President and Chief Executive Malcolm Williamson is
>also the chairman of ComSense; Deutsche Bank, which has a
>pay-by-mobile-phone service called PayBox in Europe, has invested $5
>million in the firm.
>
>Not only could the ComDot sit inside a fraud-proof, ultra-secure credit or
>ATM card, but the technology could also be used to validate online
>commerce transactions. Instead of merely requiring consumers to type in
>their credit card number, they would squeeze their ComDots, and perhaps
>enter a PIN.
>
>Chowdhary said that convenience might even trump security for online
>shoppers who tire of entering in their credit card information and address.
>
>``It's going to have a lot of convenience for users,'' she said. ``The
>financial market is going to be a big thing for them, and I'm sure they'll
>be aiming at it.''




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