APC Biometric Mouse with Password Manager review

23 June 2005 0:01 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Security is becoming such a central issue in home and office computing that you have to be on your guard all the time. If it’s not some bugger hacking into your files just to prove a point it’s someone coming through your window and then simply walking of with your machine to flog to the highest bidder if they’re too lazy to pick up the programming books.

In steps the APC Biometric mouse and password manager. The device although not new (Sony has a similar offering), is APC’s solution to security on your PC. Plug in the mouse via USB, install the software and go through the set up procedure. Once done, your PC can be locked to guard against unwanted intrusion although admittedly it’s not going to stop anyone simply walking away with it.

Installation of the system is fairly simple and requires you to select a finger for the biometric reading and then repeat the scan eight further times, at the end of the process you are then asked to verify your finger before the new security system is put into place. Just in case you lose the all-important finger in a tragic sea bass fishing accident you can either select and ad other fingers or more importantly a standard worded password. The APC Biometric Mouse Password Manager permits a further twenty different fingerprints or twenty different users to store passwords on a single computer system.

Once you’re logged on you can set the biometric manager to do a number of tasks. The most common one will be forcing a finger print when coming out of the screen saver mode, however the more interesting and useful in your fight to stop your data falling into the wrong hands is the ability to encrypt individual files and folders with your fingerprint.

Encrypted files are marked so and different users can encrypt different files and folders on the same machine.

Where the mouse is likely to be helpful on a daily basis barring intrusion from the bad guys is the ability to store multiple passwords for websites. Let the password manager know the password for the site and in the future it’s just a case of pressing your finger against the mouse and away you go. We tried it on a number of websites - from Google adsense to Amazon and all worked perfectly after the initial setup.

Verdict

While the mouse isn't the most sexy or ergonomically designed beauty, what it does certainly is. The software was easy to install and more importantly easy to run on a daily basis without getting in the way.

The password manager is the key here and makes this certainly one to consider if you are worried about your data falling into the wrong hands.

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Review Recap

Made by: APC
Price as reviewed: £50
The good: Encrypt files at the touch of a button, easy to install
The bad: Mouse itself isn’t great
Quick verdict: If you are worried about the security of your files this is a good place to start
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