Grid-Based Authentication System for Secure Password Generation
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Solution Overview
Problem
User-created passwords are vulnerable to offline attacks and difficult for users to remember, while randomly generated passwords are more secure but harder for users to recall.
Innovation Solution
A grid-based authentication system where users select a sequence of colored tiles to generate a long, alphanumeric password, which is stored and used for authentication, reducing storage requirements and mitigating phishing attacks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If user-created passwords are used, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The password is segmented into multiple components: a base password derived from user-selected colored tiles, and additional random characters. This segmentation allows the user to remember the visual tile pattern while the system appends unpredictable characters, combining memorability with security against offline attacks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system acts as an intermediary that transforms user-friendly tile selections into secure passwords. The server generates the complete password by combining the user-derived portion with random characters, mediating between user convenience and security requirements without requiring the user to directly create or remember the full complex password.
2Reliability
If randomly generated passwords are used, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The password structure is segmented into a memorable user-derived portion (from colored tile selections) and a system-generated random portion. This allows the password to be both secure (due to random characters) and operable (due to the visual tile pattern the user can remember).
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from one-dimensional text-based passwords to a two-dimensional visual grid of colored tiles. Users select tiles spatially, creating a password that is easier to remember through visual patterns and spatial memory, while the system adds random characters to maintain security.
3Ease of operation
If self-created passwords meeting criteria are used, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically generating the complete secure password on the server side. Instead of relying on users to create passwords meeting complex criteria, the system pre-generates passwords with the required complexity and randomness, then provides them to users in a memorable format through colored tiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as an intermediary that handles the complexity of password generation. Users interact with a simplified interface of colored tiles, while the server manages the complex requirements for password strength, randomness, and resistance to permutation attacks, eliminating the need for users to understand or enforce security criteria.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for authenticating to a computer system. In some examples, a method includes receiving a request from a user device for authentication, the request specifying a username. The method includes determining grid information associated with the username by accessing a repository of grid information for usernames, the grid information specifying a color set. The method includes sending the color set to the user device, causing the user device to display a grid of colored tiles, each colored tile having a color specified by the color set. The method includes receiving a sequence of tile selections from the user device, each tile selection specifying a user selection of one of the colored tiles. The method includes granting or rejecting the request for authentication based on the sequence of tile selections and the grid information associated with the username.