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Windows 8's Picture Passwords Weaker Than Users Might Hope
colinneagle writes with word of work done by researchers at Arizona State University, Delaware State University and GFS Technology Inc., who find that the multiple-picture sequence security option of Windows 8 suffers from various flaws -- some of them specific to a password system based on gestures, and some analogous to weaknesses in conventional passwords entered by keyboard.
"The research found that the strength of picture gesture password has a 'strong connection' to how long a person spent setting up that password gesture. The most common gesture combination is three taps, meaning it took about 4.33 — 5.74 seconds to setup. Passwords with two circles and one line took the longest average input time of about 10.19 seconds. After studying why people choose certain categories of images, the most common gesture types and direction patterns in PGA passwords, the researchers developed an attack framework that is 'capable of cracking passwords on previously unseen pictures in a picture gesture authentication system.'"
Apparently circling the guy's bald head, and booping the girls on the noses is the 12345 of picture password gestures.
Three bananas and I can get my monkey to crack any gesture-based Windows 8 password. And for an additional banana he'll even throw his feces at the screen.
Three bananas and I can get my monkey to crack any gesture-based Windows 8 password. And for an additional banana he'll even throw his feces at the screen.
Windows 8?
Who DOESN'T throw their feces at the screen?
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
There is also an option to log in with a pin like on a phone. Both are meant there for convenience, not to be a strong lock. In order to take advantage of either an attacker would need physical access.
My boss hates it when we do that.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
My boss hates it when we do that.
You STILL workin' for Ballmer!??!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Yes, and general psychology can also predict what a person would choose on a given image -- i.e. what they consider foreground.
Good news, we have a dumb solution to the problem. "Your gesture must include at least one background element, one foreground element, and one circle."
Uhuh.
You misunderstand. Ballmer is the monkey.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
As a joke while testing one of the betas, I tried to see if I could beat my friend's picture password. Somehow I got it on the first try.
When I received my first Android phone some years back I used the screen lock which uses the 3x3 pattern of circles or dots and a swipe pattern. It didn't take long for me to realize that when you swipe the screen you leave behind a big smudged trail of finger grease across the screen. If you hold the phone sideways in the light or use a bright flashlight, the smudged grease trail completely gives your swipe password away including the beginning and end. The start of the trail is a big blotch while the tail end is faded as you lift your finger. Now this trail can be wiped off purposefully by the user or accidentally by means of placing it in a pocket/purse where the users body movement jostles the phone around polishing the screen clean. But if you leave your phone out or store it in such a way that the screen does not get cleaned by clothing or purse then you're in trouble.
I have unlocked a few of my friends phones using my little LED flashlight I carry as a party trick and they were stunned. Most of them had very simple patterns requiring little effort. Even my swipe password is weak but using all nine dots in an obscure manner is difficult or clumsy.
I would imagine the Windows 8 picture touch password suffers the same problem as you can look at the screen and see where it was touched and guess the pattern.