Secure Display Element for Screen-Capture Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies fail to effectively protect sensitive information displayed on computer devices from being captured by malicious software, particularly through screen-capture attacks, as randomization or CAPTCHA mechanisms are insufficient to prevent unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
The technique generates a series of images representing a keypad or sensitive information, displayed sequentially at a high enough frame rate to appear static to humans, with each image concealing parts of the information in a way that makes it impossible for machines to decode from individual screenshots, using masks and varying opacity or depth to enhance security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If sensitive information is displayed on a screen, then users can access and input data, but malicious software can capture screenshots to steal the information
Solution Approach 1:
The display content is divided into multiple segments that are shown in different frames. Each frame displays only a portion of the complete information, so that screenshots captured at any single moment reveal incomplete data. The segments are reconstructed in the user's mind through temporal integration, maintaining usability while preventing capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The display systematically cycles through multiple frames showing different segments of the information in a periodic sequence. This temporal segmentation ensures that any screenshot captures only a transient portion of the data, while the complete information remains accessible to users who view the sequence continuously.
2Reliability
If information is obscured to prevent capture, then security is improved, but user readability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display dynamically transitions between different states (frames), with each state showing a different segment of the information. The temporal dynamics create a moving target for screenshot capture while maintaining static readability for human users who process the sequence continuously. The system adapts the display state based on the need to balance security and usability.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for securely displaying sensitive information against attempts to capture such information via screenshots are introduced. Similar to the pieces of a puzzle, a plurality of images that collectively represent a keypad (for example) are generated and each image represents a different part of the characters. The generated images are to be displayed to a human user in a sequential fashion at at least a predetermined minimum frame rate, such that the plurality of images sequentially displayed are perceivable by the human user collectively as the keypad. In each of the plurality of images, at least a part of the characters of the keypad is disguised or concealed, and in some embodiments, to the extent that not a single character of the keypad is recognizable by a human or a machine. Further, bogus data can be selectively inserted to enhance security.