Passboard: A Password You Can Wear

There is a hugely growing market for password management.  For many, the increasing amount of options for managing passwords has come as a welcome relief, as many people must rely on multiple variations of passwords for each online service. Keeping track of all of your passwords can be a huge task.  Now, a new mobile security startup is trying to simplify things even further.  PassBan keeps mobile devices secure by offering different authentication options.  You can even wear a wristband authenticator, making passwords a thing of the past, and allowing you to simply gesture when you want to access your device.

With the free Android app called Passboard, you can secure any of your individual apps on your smartphone.  The wristband is just one of the possible verification techniques from which the user can choose. Options include voice identification, facial recognition, location, or the aforementioned wristband. The wristband works to unlock your phone or tablet when the user either makes a gesture or simply has proximity to the device. You can choose which method you want to use, and it is registered and transmitted via Bluetooth to your handset.  The technology essentially works by intercepting the launch of any app that you have chosen to secure with PassBoard.  Passban has also showed off the tools that will allow third-party developers to incorporate the technology into their own apps.

It is possible that many people may not initially see the need for this type of authentication for their devices, as many users don’t actually use lock passcodes for their phones or tablets. However, wearable authentication is clearly going to be something of a trend.  It has been reported that Google is also exploring wearable authentication.  They are reportedly exploring the possibility of using items that a user would already be wearing, as a means to log in to a computer.

[Image via passban]