Graphical Password Authentication for Mobile Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile device security methods, such as numeric PINs and alphanumeric passwords, are inadequate due to low entropy and usability concerns, making them vulnerable to dictionary attacks and easy to forget, leading to a need for enhanced security measures.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a graphical password system where users select and remember colors for regions of a visual shape or theme, with the order of selection adding an additional layer of entropy, to create a unique and memorable cryptographic key for authentication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a numeric PIN is used for mobile device security, then the device can be unlocked with a simple code, but the security level is limited and users tend to choose weak PINs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional numeric PINs to two-dimensional graphical passwords. Users select multiple visual elements (images, colors, shapes) arranged in a grid or pattern, adding spatial dimension to the authentication process. This dramatically increases the possible combinations while maintaining user-friendly visual selection interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple types of visual elements (different images, colors, shapes, and patterns) into a composite graphical password system. This composite approach creates a rich authentication space where users can mix and match various visual components, significantly increasing entropy compared to simple numeric sequences.
2Reliability
If traditional alphanumeric passwords are used, then more character combinations are possible, but dictionary attacks succeed due to commonly chosen passwords
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical keyboard input system with a visual touchscreen interface. Instead of typing alphanumeric characters, users tap and select visual elements on the screen. This substitution eliminates the need for memorizing complex character sequences while maintaining high security through the combinatorial possibilities of visual element selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent fundamentally changes the parameter space of passwords from alphanumeric characters to visual attributes (images, colors, shapes, positions, sizes). This parameter transformation creates a new authentication domain with vastly increased entropy, making dictionary attacks ineffective since visual combinations cannot be guessed from common word lists.
3Ease of operation
If users manually select their own PINs, then usability is improved, but security is reduced due to predictable choices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the graphical password into multiple independent segments or cells in a grid layout. Each cell can contain different visual elements, and users make independent selections for each segment. This segmentation allows users to create complex passwords through simple incremental choices, maintaining usability while achieving high entropy through the multiplication of possibilities across segments.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture for increasing mobile device security are provided herein. A method includes establishing a pre-determined set of cryptographic information, wherein said pre-determined set of cryptographic information comprises one or more user-selected non-alphanumeric input elements applied to one or more visual components; generating a prompt via a computing device interface in connection with an authentication request to access a protected resource associated with the computing device; processing input cryptographic information entered via the computing device interface in response to the prompt against the pre-determined set of cryptographic information; and resolving the authentication request based on said processing.