The invention is directed to a wireless handheld device that securely
accesses one or more remote devices subject to locally authenticating a
user via biometrics. The device may be implemented as a wireless mouse
with a biometric sensor incorporated with a scroll wheel that captures a
biometric from the user and authenticates the user to the device using
the captured biometric. More specifically, the captured biometric is
compared to a template stored in memory. The device transmits a wireless
signal, such as a command stream including the user's user name and
password, to access the remote devices when the captured biometric
matches the template. However, the device does not operate when the user
is not authenticated. Accordingly, the invention may be particularly
useful to log-on and log-off a user who frequently leaves and returns to
a personal computer or various remote devices during the course of a day.