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Using a Password One Doesn't Consciously Remember

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the almost-always-able-to-log-in dept.

ZiggyM writes "Researchers from Hebrew University in Israel have devised a way to assign a password to a user in a way that prevents the user from conciously remember or describe it, yet the user can input it correctly over 90% of the time in a 3 month period after [s]he learns to input it. It involves using visual recognition of previously-seen images, which you can recognize but cant consciously recall in detail. Recognizing the right ones from a series is interpreted as knowing the password, and the chances of guessing it is 1/100,000. Not ready for practical use yet, but very interesting concept that can develop further."

3 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Their own metrics are so awful. by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 5, Interesting

    in reality a truely random four-letter password is probably more secure than most people's password. Have you forgotten they'll likely Give it up for chocolate, anyway? If they don't really know it, they can't write it down and can't divulge it.

    The specific implementation may need work, but the concept has very real possibility.

    Best comment when I told someone their password expires every 90 days and they can't use the last two:

    "That's OK, I have four grandchildren."

    --
    That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
  2. Sounds like Passfaces by Beautyon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Passfaces uses a similar idea; you can remember the faces that make up your password, but you cannot describe that password to anyone. It relies on your brains ability to recognise faces, and your brains inability to accurately describe the same faces.

    Useless for the blind of course.

    --
    ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
  3. Re:I do this now by Entropy+Unleashed · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why not just use some primitive "keyboard art"? The main alphanumeric area can be considered a 4 by 10 area of pixels, with a possible 3 colors(normal, not typed, and with Shift key). This would offer the possibility of easy visual recognition/reconstruction with ~10^19 possible combinations. For example, we could use a drawing of a TIE Bomber as a password.

    ......0...0......
    .....0__0__0.....
    ......0...0......

    would become ridFGhIJkcm, which is judged to be a rather strong password by http://www.securitystats.com/tools/password.php .

    --

    "I would give my right hand to be ambidextrous."