As a computer user, you surely understand the importance of information security, and passwords are often the target of scrutiny and theft, especially when they are too simple.
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Scenic view of Rutgers University – Camden |
A new security method has recently been announced that is attracting attention: graphical passwords. This is a new research project by computer specialists from Rutgers University – Camden (USA)…
One of the solutions involves “capturing from a click position” on a pre-selected image by the user (the password is created and recognized by the click position). Another approach aims to prevent “shoulder surfing” (a method of stealing passwords by peeking over the shoulder of someone entering their password) by selecting random areas from a set of symbols that the user has predetermined within an image area. If these solutions can be perfected for the main system, it will eliminate the need to create new passwords for online applications.
Computer Science Professor Jean-Camile Birget and his research team have come up with this unique “graphical password” idea. Professor Jean noted that traditionally, passwords are created using numbers and characters, but with this graphical solution, users will select areas within a predefined image, referred to as “click points.” These positions are easy for the owner to remember but difficult for others to guess.
In the image-based computer security program, Jean-Camile Birget instructs: “You can ask users to select a picture; this helps them remember the initial mouse click points on the image. The selected image must be complex enough, such as a picture of a city, so that users need to select multiple positions on the image for security.”
The scenic view of Rutgers University – Camden serves as an example. This real image simply illustrates a graphical password that aligns with the traditional password method (numbers and letters). To log in, users are required to select four positions marked by circles on the image. These positions must be chosen during the password creation process, tailored to the user’s preferences, with the crucial aspect being that they should be easy to remember. Users can also use their own images to create passwords, with more selected points increasing the security level.
The second method developed aims to prevent “shoulder surfing,” a type of password theft where the user is unaware of being watched from behind.
According to this method, users must select 10 icons mixed among nearly 200 other icons. In order to access the system, users must locate the shapes, specifically triangles, and place the icons they selected at the corners, clicking within the chosen triangular area.
Leonardo Sobrado, a member of the research team, states: “The main idea of the model is to allow users to demonstrate their understanding of secret information without inadvertently revealing these secrets to others. The questions or requests change over time as responses are made, but the secrets (passwords) remain unchanged.”
If you want to experiment with this technology, you can download the program at: http://clam.rutgers.edu/~lsobrado/graphicalpassword/. More detailed information can be found on The Graphical Passwords Project page (http://clam.rutgers.edu/~birget/grPssw).
BY TAM TRUNG
