The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : IN DEVELOPMENT

Desktop Security: For all its ability to perform “smart” tasks, in one respect a computer is no different from a refrigerator or a television set: Anyone can use it when you’re not around, with or without authorization. But what if your computer could tell who was sitting in front of it and block an intruder by refusing to turn on?

Engineers at Apple Computer’s Advanced Technology Group are working with some of the same software technologies that guide smart missiles to bring object-recognition capability to the desktop. Equipped with this special software, the computer would, in effect, “acquire a target” when you or someone else entered your office. Based on pattern-matching, it would decide whether the person was friend or foe.