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.'"

Comments

This would be easy to fake

[Megor1]

You could just record the mouse movements with some macro software and then play it back whenever it asks for their signature.

Re:This would be easy to fake

[Andrewkov]

If you've ever tried drawing anything with a mouse, you probably agree that it's not easy .. I probably couldn't even write my name and have it be recognizable as being written by the same person, let alone be an exact digital match. Maybe I'm a spaz on the mouse, but I know for a fact I'm *much* better than the average Joe-Sixpack type I see at work. So I have a hard time believing this concept will work. Stylus tablets is another story, though.. If only everyone owned one of those! :-)

Re:This would be easy to fake

[localghost]

And pens won't work either, because you can easily photocopy a signature and trace over it. Oh well, back to the drawing board...

Warning:

[Exiler]

Vertical motions detected. Credit authorization failed.

Thank you for shopping at Victoria Secret.

Your John Handcock is not secure

[Dancin_Santa]

While it may be a huge flourish that impresses the ladies, your signature is not as secure as it would seem. Forgeries are easy to make by skilled criminals.

Use a cryptographic key to sign. You'll be glad you did.

Re:Your John Handcock is not secure

[OmnipotentEntity]

The added fact that most skilled forgeries are identified by the depth of the pit in the paper (ie how hard you press down at certain points, you can imitate a shape but if you imitate it you're not doing it naturally and that shows in the patterns of heavy vs. light inking), and not by the shape of the writing, that makes the mouse signature doubly insecure. Any idiot can trace a pattern of pixels if they see it a few times.

___________

Great

[Crashmarik]

Just what I need. Computers to tell me I'm not me when I sign my name. At least with people I could make a convincing argument.

Similar biometrics don't work

[thepacketmaster]

After recently studying for the CISSP, I learned a great deal about biometrics. The most accurate biometrics include things like iris scans, palm scans, retina scans, etc. These are so accurate because they measure characteristics that are totally unique to individuals. Signature dynamics and keystroke dynamics are some of the most ineffective biometrics around. A big problem is they can be faked. While the article states that early trials are 99% accurate, it doesn't detail how many people have actually tried this system. (A test group of 10 wouldn't be very good.) It also doesn't mention if they tried to fake it out. The real world is a harsh place on biometrics.

dudes, they're lying

[bongobongo]

it's just ms paint with a web front end and a bunch of offshore labourers visually verifying each one !!!! ! !!

it's 99% accurate because of carelessness and post-lunchbreak bloat factor

Now I'm Confused

[the_mad_poster]

Christ... first thing I did when I read that was stop moving my mouse.. then the thought crossed my mind that by doing that, I was just setting up a new signature, so I started moving the mouse. Then, I started to think that maybe I was moving the mouse in my own special way, so I tried to make something up.

Then it occurred to me that I'm using lynx.

I've done something like this

[n0nsensical]

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.

John Handcock

[shigelojoe]

He was probably talking about the pornstar. And if there isn't a pornstar named John Handcock, there damn well needs to be one.

A lack of John Handcock is un-American(TM), dammit.

This is similar to Morse Code

[sQuEeDeN]

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.