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July 25, 2016 ­
BluStor’s CyberGate uses biometrics to
guard Personal Mobile Cloud
By Chris Burt
The same improvements made in chip and battery
technology over the past few years that have driven the mobile
explosion have also enabled BluStor’s solution to the security problems
created by the connected, mobile world. By focussing on the individual,
the CyberGate secures the most vulnerable point in any transaction
with biometric identification, device control, and data storage on a
familiar form factor that fits in your wallet.
BluStor is the latest project from Seagate and Conner Peripherals founder Finis Conner. Conner
found that early in the development of huge growth areas like mobile, wearables, and IoT,
functionality and convenience for consumers were prioritized over security, he said in an interview
with Biometric Update in 2013, when the company was in its early days. A major security
vulnerability – the individual – was largely ignored.
Network and system security have reached points of diminished return for many companies,
BluStor chief operating officer Mark Bennett told Biometric Update in an interview.
“The weakest link in the security chain is actually the individual, whether it’s the employer or end
user performing that transaction, and very little had been invested in terms of solving that
particular problem,” Bennett says. “A classic example is the typical employee ID badge, which is
nothing but a piece of plastic with a picture on it, and you may have an RFID chip that you can use
to scan in and out of a turnstile or a door. But it does very little other than that and of course if
somebody drops it or loses it, particularly if they don’t report it, then anybody who picks it up can
use it. We spent billions of dollars trying to secure all the devices and back­end systems, but we
spend a nickel trying to secure the individual.”
Securing the individual means confirming that they are who they say they are, and that they are
allowed to do what they are trying to. It also means moving the identification system off of mobile
devices. The millions of lines of source code in the operating systems of devices make them
inherently vulnerable, Bennett says, which is a major factor in the 640 percent increase in Android
malware, and Apple finding it necessary to constantly update iOS to patch the security holes used
to jailbreak devices.
“We firmly believe that separating the keys to your digital identity from those kinds of devices is
absolutely essential to protecting your digital identity and keeping that information safe and
secure,” Bennett says. “That’s the fundamental purpose of our product.”
Improvements in technology led to BluStor’s development of its first prototypes last summer while
working with the army on ways to carry secure personal medical records into the field.
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CyberGate provides mobile biometric authentication with a device that looks and feels like a thick
credit card. The device features three key applications, which combine to secure the identity and
data of the person who carries it. BuStor calls these applications GateKeeper, AutoLogN, and File
Vault.
GateKeeper is an API that sits in the cards’ firmware, which positively identifies the user with
multi­factor biometric authentication, and drives the Bluetooth, NFC, and USB interfaces.
GateKeeper handles all secure transactions between the card and whatever application it is used
with.
AutoLogN uses a low­energy BlueTooth signal to transmit an attenuated, low power signal to the
user’s laptop, desktop, or tablet. By automatically locking and unlocking devices without the user
having to enter a password or touch the keyboard, AutoLogN allows organizations to limit access
to times when the authorized user is physically present, with the Cybergate card in their wallet or
hanging from a lanyard around their neck.
The application has particularly high potential for uses involving
multiple users and multiple sensitive devices. Bennett gives the
example of hospitals, in which teams of nurses need to constantly
access equipment which literally keeps people alive. Nurses
typically access hospital computers upwards of 100 times each
shift, and if they must rely on passwords to do so, they will naturally
tend towards ones that are quick, easy­to­remember, and therefore
weak.
By associating the authorized user’s identity with their biometric
profile on the Cybergate card, AutoLogN addresses this risk, and generally mitigates the need for
enterprises to enforce good password practices.
File Vault stores sensitive data directly to the card on up to 8GB of flash storage. Data is
transmitted by encrypted standard­strength BlueTooth which provides high speed and avoids
potentially risky WiFi use. BluStor sees the onboard File Vault as a place to store any sensitive
data, like product information or trade secrets for business users or copies of travel documents
and medical information for consumers.
The combination makes CyberGate a holistic ID and authorization control that can deliver a major
return in security for a relatively modest investment of cost and time. Capturing the biometrics for
each card takes less time than typing out a password, while matching takes milliseconds. The
same backup access and authentication systems used by administrators can be applied, though
they may be used less.
“An enterprise can bring that into their infrastructure with little to no change in their existing tools
and environment,” Bennet says. Each card is meant to last for years, with over the air firmware
updates incorporating whatever biometric technology is best at the time.
Because credentials are worth nearly 100 times as much as credit card numbers on the dark web,
identity will be increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, making identity protection all the more
important. BluStor is working with the US Army on providing veterans with a way to securely store
medical records on their person, and is receiving major interest from the insurance and health
care industries.
Cybergate cards begin shipping this month, and BluStor is offering them for $99.99, one­third off
the regular price, for a limited time.
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