Storing passwords on a smart card. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Many companies use them for entering buildings. Others use them for logging on to office PCs. Smart cards are typically thinner than a credit card….but can store information that identifies you…on a chip. Dovell Bonnett is CEO at a company called Access Smart…which is making the technology available to consumers and small businesses. The company's Power LogOn software generates complex passwords…that you don't have to worry about remembering. They're stored on a card…and read by your PC…

"Information is stored on the card, the information is never stored on the computer where anyone can get them. So as soon as you pull your card, none of your information stays behind. So now you have the portability of going from computer to computer with your security as well as with the URLs and all the other links to where the applications reside so that you don't even have to remember what was the URL to sign in."

Some notebook manufacturers have been building smartcard readers into machines. Access Smart sells kits that include USB card readers for under 130 dollars. Whether or not it is overkill depends on how you use your PC. If you are logging onto bank accounts online or trading stocks, Access Smart's solution may provide some peace of mind….making it impossible for a would be identity thief to steal your passwords. You can find more information at Access-Smart.com. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.