Touchscreen Authentication Using Fiducial Photographs
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current user authentication systems, such as those relying on user IDs and passwords, digital certificates, and biometrics, are not secure enough as they can be compromised by knowledge-based access or replicated, and biometric devices are expensive and not portable.
Innovation Solution
A computing device system that uses a user-selectable photograph with fiducials, capturing and comparing touch pattern data to authenticate users, incorporating a multi-touch sensitive panel for additional verification factors like static contact, fingertip diameter, velocity, and direction, providing a three-factor authentication mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If biometric measuring systems are used for authentication, then security is enhanced, but device cost increases and portability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive mechanical biometric measuring devices with a software-based authentication system using a touch-sensitive display. The system captures touch patterns (position, pressure, duration, velocity, acceleration) and compares them to stored patterns, substituting physical biometric hardware with a software solution that uses the device's existing touchscreen capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the touch-sensitive display serve multiple functions: it acts as both the user interface for normal device operation and the biometric sensing device for authentication. The same display hardware used for showing content also captures touch pattern data, eliminating the need for separate biometric sensors and reducing overall device complexity.
2Reliability
If digital certificates are used for authentication, then security is enhanced, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically capturing touch pattern data as the user naturally interacts with the device. The authentication process integrates seamlessly into normal device usage, with the system automatically comparing touch patterns without requiring the user to manually present credentials or follow complex authentication procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing and storing touch pattern data during initial device setup or first usage. This pre-captured data is then used for subsequent authentication, eliminating the need for users to remember complex passwords or carry physical security tokens.
3Ease of operation
If user ID and password systems are used, then ease of operation is maintained, but security deteriorates due to phishing susceptibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces touch pattern data as an intermediary verification layer between the user and the authentication system. This intermediary element cannot be replicated by phishing websites, providing an additional security checkpoint that maintains ease of operation while preventing unauthorized access through fraudulent sites.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an aspect, a computing device includes a processor; a computer readable memory; a display screen; a touch sensitive panel overlying the display screen; and computing device application instructions coded in the computer readable memory and executed by the processor to: display a user-selectable photograph on the display screen, the user-selectable photograph including a group of fiducials, generate captured pattern data, the captured pattern data representing coordinate values on the touch sensitive panel where touched by a user, and provide for authentication of the user based on a comparison of the captured pattern data and respective locations of the group of fiducials included in the user-selectable photograph.