University Deploys Biometric Software On Faculty, Student Computers
DigitalPersona Inc. recently announced that Bentley University has deployed the company's software on faculty and student laptops and PCs.
Bentley University, located in Waltham, Mass., is one of the nation's leading institutions for business education with approximately 4,000 undergraduate students. Looking to make access to computers, the university network, academic resources, and personal applications and Web accounts easier and more secure, the university chose to load DigitalPersona's software on HP EliteBook laptops provided to students and faculty.
"The DigitalPersona software on our HP laptops has received rave reviews campus-wide," said Jonathan Everett, director of IT client services at Bentley University. "It's hard to say who is more excited -- the students who think it's a cool technology, or our IT staff who see improved security, fewer Help Desk support calls, and increased return on investment in the notebooks themselves."
Bentley University participates in a mobile computing program, distributing HP EliteBook 6930p model laptops to incoming freshman and replacing them with newer models every two years. The HP EliteBook line comes with built-in fingerprint readers. DigitalPersona Personal, the individual version of the company's identity and authentication software, reduces the risk and costs of shared or forgotten user names and passwords. It also helps to provide a more seamless Internet experience for faculty and staff by making login to personal Web accounts easier and more secure.
"DigitalPersona solutions use biometrics to provide simple, safe, and secure access to organizations' networks and applications," said Jim Fulton, vice president of marketing at DigitalPersona. "Institutions such as Bentley University are always looking for ways to get more value from their PC investments. With DigitalPersona software they are able to increase their operational savings and more fully utilize their IT infrastructure."
The DigitalPersona software is an easy-to-use identity protection solution that allows users to sidestep the manual input of passwords across all Web sites and network applications by leveraging the users fingerprint for authentication. By removing the burden of manual password entry and the need to remember multiple passwords across many sites, the DigitalPersona software increases personal efficiency and allows for the use of stronger, differentiated passwords. This gives users a simple, identity-aware solution that strengthens security and provides fine-grained reporting accuracy and accountability throughout the organization.