Windows 10 Mobile will reportedly be stepping up its security protocols by including the latest standards by the end of this summer.
According to Microsoft, the latest Windows 10 Mobile OS will be able to support fingerprint scanners, thus moving away from the traditional password-protection used on the company’s devices. The OS now joins the likes of Android 6.0 Marshmallow in deeply integrating this security system to ensure that your personal data is kept safe. This revelation came to life via the company’s Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (2016) that was held last week.
Windows 10 was unveiled to the world last year and since then, the operating system is now running on more than 300 million devices. While the OS is mostly used on PCs, there are also a number of Windows Phone devices that are compatible with the latest iteration. In addition, the company and other partner OEMs have been coming in with a number of devices based on this new firmware.
When Microsoft introduced Windows 10, a new feature known as Windows Hello was also unveiled. What this feature really does is give users a personal and secure experience where authentication only takes place in the presence of the device’s owner. This feature comes with support for both fingerprint scanners and facial recognition technology. During the hardware conference, the company announced that it will be adding support for the former technology in a few months’ time. Facial recognition support was added to Windows 10 Mobile last year.
Apparently, it is hard to tell whether Windows 10 Mobile developers will be impressed with this addition. Still, it should make way for more functions for the fingerprint scanner on the HP Elite x3, a device that is reportedly going to be the first to support this upcoming functionality.
During the event, Microsoft revealed further details regarding more use cases for the said Windows Hello, among them authentication of purchases as well as access to passport-secured information.
Microsoft added support for Biometrics back in 2012. The company’s older operating systems included what is known as Windows Biometric Framework (WBF) – this is basically a set of interfaces (and services) that allow constant development and management of biometric hardware.