[ltp] using fingerprint reader for encryption or ssh login?

[Jiang Qian]

Hi All:
	I'm among the paranoid people out there who encrypt things but 
still fear key stroke logger to steal my passwords. Currently, I use 
fingerprint reader to do sudo, so that I don't need to type in password.  
And I store my passwords, such as those for web logins, in an encrypted 
file, using a password only for this occasion to decrypt the password 
file. I copy and paste things to web login so that keystroke logger 
cannot read off my passwords.
	But still, won't it be wonderful if we can use the fingerprint 
reader, which is already up and running via bioapi interface to PAM, to 
do the following:
	1) Authenticate me and decrypt my master password file on disk, 
so that even a keystroke logger cannot defeat encryption on my master 
password file. I know that you can set up the machine to refuse to boot 
unless offered fingerprint, via BIOS, but I don't believe that helps if 
governments make off with your hard drive.
	2) Use fingerprint for all the web logins. I know this is 
possible via software under windows. Why can't we have this under linux?
	3) Related to 1, use fingerprint reader to decrypt the ssh key 
when adding it to ssh-agent.
	Any idea how to realize any of these three under linux? Thanks 
in advance.
								  Jiang