DigitalPersona Pro (formerly U are U Pro) for Active Directory is now at version 3.0 (the vendor tells us version 3.1 is now available) and is as slick as ever in its presentation, installation and general ease of use.
The fingerprint reader continues to be a favorite due to its combination of small size, attractive design and overall quality.
As the name suggests, the product is designed to dovetail neatly with your Windows logon policies via the Windows Active Directory and the use of group policy objects. It can thus be easily employed and deployed within a typical corporate network.
It might also be used on a standalone workstation, where it is able to integrate seamlessly with your Windows logon routine, replacing the standard dialog with an attractive Digital Persona version that allows you to either logon with one touch of the sensor, or press ctrl-alt-delete in the usual manner and fallback on a password if, for some reason, you cannot use the reader.
The sensor is able to detect when a finger is present, and placing your finger on it when you have already logged on, activates a pop-up menu with various options including encrypting or decrypting files, reviewing settings and activating the finger registration wizard.
All such options worked faultlessly, as did the use of the fingerprint to log on in the first place. Another very useful facility is one touch sign-on to applications and web sites which require authentication – useful to individuals who regularly visit secure websites.
A one-touch sign-on administration utility helps to set things up accordingly. Overall, it is hard to find anything negative to say about this product. It is very simple to install and use, and everything works as you would expect it to.
It has been continuously refined into a reliable and genuinely useful tool for those wishing to implement biometric verification for access control purposes.