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Sign Your Name Online With A Mouse
icke writes "Soon, the way you use your mouse could help prove who you are. According to a BBC News article, scientists have found a way for people to sign their name online using a mouse instead of a pen. The technology, based on the research from Queen Mary College, University of London by Peter McOwan, 'uses a neural network to pick out the unique features of the way that someone uses a mouse.'"
If the software is smart, it will look for perfect reproductions which no human would be capable of and give an error if it detects one.
What about if you change your mouse type to something like a trackball or a laptop mouse? Your signature wouldn't work anymore, and you cannot access anything from other computer!!!
Would a signature created with a mouse be legally-binding?
Many of laws now on the books in the U.S. allow a digitial signature to be binding if all parties agree on the digital method used.
So, if you can all agree on wiggling the mouse for a sig, then it can be legally binding.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
This looks like a variation on what the folks at Cybersign do. Their technology is based on matching the dynamical pattern of motion, not just the X-Y coordinate trace. A forger would have a hard time copying the variations in speed that the actual person uses even if the forger traces the same path or tries to "get good" at the signature.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
When I bought a ticket online from GrooveTickets, I had to sign this Flash applet, although I'm not sure how that alone is going to prevent theft because if someone was trying to use a stolen credit card, I'm sure they wouldn't have much trouble forging a signature on a Flash form with a reset button.
One of the legends of the early radio intelligence (and other classified military radio work) was that each coder (morse that is) had a very specific tapping style that was discernible by a trained professional. Such uniqueness was noticable even if the coder switched hands.
While this uniqueness didn't provide a surefire form of authentication, professionals who feared having a broadcast recognized would sometimes retire a coder after sending a particularly sensitive message.
Seems kinda like mouse analasys. You can't prove it's them, but it's another suggestion. Can't see how it'll be useful. The mouse is easy enough to hook into in the software side--it's by no means a secure device.
Recursive (adj.): see 'Recursive'