Obfuscating Virtual Keyboard Input via Dynamic Visual Indicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing password authentication systems are vulnerable to unauthorized access when users enter passwords in public or observed environments, leading to security risks and the need for frequent password changes.
Innovation Solution
A system that obfuscates user input by concurrently displaying multiple targets and moving visual indications to confuse observers, allowing users to select targets without revealing their selections, using a processor and machine-readable media to manage user interactions and distractor targets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a standard password input interface is used, then the system is simple and easy to operate, but observers can easily see and identify the user's password selections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the visual indication of the current target movable rather than static. The current target's visual position changes over time, moving between different positions on the display, which prevents observers from easily tracking which target the user will select. This dynamic behavior obscures the relationship between user input and password selection while maintaining system functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to the target selection interface. Instead of displaying targets in a static spatial arrangement only, the system adds time as another dimension by continuously changing the visual indication's position over time. This temporal variation creates confusion for observers trying to predict user selections, as the visual feedback no longer maintains a consistent spatial mapping.
2Reliability
If the current target visual indication remains stationary, then the interface is simple to understand, but observers can easily track and predict user selections
Solution Approach 1:
The system makes the visual indication dynamic by moving it between different positions on the display during the selection process. This movement prevents observers from easily tracking which target corresponds to the user's current selection, thereby enhancing password security while the system maintains clear feedback mechanisms for the actual user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary element between the user's input and the visual feedback. The system uses a moving visual indication as an intermediary that decouples the direct spatial relationship between user action and visual confirmation, making it harder for observers to infer password selections while still providing adequate feedback to the actual user.
3Reliability
If multiple targets are displayed concurrently with moving visual indications, then observer tracking of user selections becomes difficult, but the interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by continuously moving the visual indication of the current target among multiple concurrently displayed targets. This dynamic repositioning creates a complex appearance for observers trying to track selections, while the underlying system remains relatively simple in its implementation through standardized display and movement control mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for obfuscating user selections during user-input of sensitive information, involving displaying several targets, such as keys of a virtual keyboard, on a display device, where each target corresponds to one of multiple options. When a first visual indication of a current user target moves to a first target in response to a first movement of a user pointer to a first position within the first target, the obfuscation system can be configured to concurrently move a second visual indication of a first distractor target to another target. The current user target is thus obfuscated as two different visual indicators and/or pointers move through the targets.