Friday, November 4, 11:00AM
Peirce 218
Stevens Institute of Technology
Abstract
Passwords are the most commonly used form of user authentication. They
are also one of the weakest links of computer security
systems. Graphical passwords are based on visual information and try
to exploit the innate human ability to process images. An example of a
system that we developed uses an image on the screen and lets the user
choose a few click points; these click points are the "password", and
the user has to click closely to these points again in order to log
in. There are some interesting implementation problems for this
graphical password system. I'll also talk about usability, human
factors, and the possibility of dictionary attacks. Another topic is
the design of password systems that are resistant to "shoulder
surfing" (i.e., where the login is observed without the password being
revealed).