The secure haptic keypad: a tactile password system

  • Authors:
  • Andrea Bianchi;Ian Oakley;Dong Soo Kwon

  • Affiliations:
  • Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea;Universidade da Madeira, Campus da Penteada, Funchal, Portugal;Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Authentication in public spaces poses significant security risks. Most significantly, passwords can be stolen, potentially leading to fraud. A common method to steal a PIN is through an observation attack, either using a camera or through direct observation (e.g. shoulder-surfing). This paper addresses this problem by presenting the design and implementation of a novel input keypad which uses tactile cues as means to compose a password. In this system, passwords are encoded as a sequence of randomized vibration patterns, making it visually impossible for an observer to detect which items are selected. An evaluation of this system shows it outperforms previous interfaces which have used tactile feedback to obfuscate passwords.