5 September 2003 Researchers at the University of London have developed a new application that uses biometrics to identify shoppers by the way that they use their computer mice.

The system enables computers to recognise exactly how the cardholder signs their name, by analysing the range of movement when the user moves the mouse to write their signature.

Developed by Ross Everitt and Dr Peter McOwan at the department of computer science at Queen Mary, University of London, the software is intended to be used in conjunction with standard password-based security systems.

“Our system builds on already familiar user skills, typing and mouse movements and we find that users can reliably reproduce complex mouse-based signatures,” said Dr McOwan.

Biometric technology has been developed to help identify an individual by their iris, retina, fingerprints, facial features or voice pattern.

It was widely touted two years ago as the panacea to personal security issues, but has only slowly been adopted due to its expensive research and development cycle and consumer concern over privacy issues.

The team at Queen Mary hope their non-invasive approach will be widely accepted by the online purchasing public. They believe it will reassure nervous consumers concerned about using their credit cards online and are currently in the process of patenting the technology.