Vein recognition, ingestible chips proposed as passwords

Could your next password be an ingestible chip or an implant in your arm?

An executive at PayPal thinks so.

{mosads}Jonathan LeBlanc, head of developer advocacy, is proposing a variety of enhanced biometric security measures as a replacement for conventional log-ins.

While PayPal says it has no plans to develop the technology itself, LeBlanc argues that tech companies must use creative thinking to enhance their users’ security.

“As long as passwords remain the standard method for identifying your users on the web, people will still continue to use ‘letmein’ or ‘password123’ for their secure log-in, and will continue to be shocked when their accounts become compromised,” LeBlanc said in a recent presentation.

Some of his ideas sound like they come straight from a science fiction novel.

LeBlanc discussed the possibility of vein recognition technology, heartbeat analysis, chips that are swallowed and powered by stomach acid, or embedded chip tattoos — any method of identifying an individual by their specific biological characteristics.

He suggested that some of the more basic biometric measures such as eye scans or fingerprint scans are “antiquated” and will be replaced, according to The Inquirer.

Killing conventional passwords is a priority for security experts as well as the Obama administration, which is funding efforts to wipe out username-and-password combinations.