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If the crew of StarTrek Enterprise every had to log in to their bank accounts, this is how they probably did it . . . entering the PIN with their eyes.
Researchers at the Stanford University in California developed a new concept in authentication, called EyePassword:
“A system that uses infrared light to track the position of your eyes as you look at numbers and letters displayed on a screen could soon make that possible. “While it is simple to look over someone’s shoulder to tell what keys they are pressing, it’s harder to tell exactly where on the screen the user is looking,” says Manu Kumar, who helped create the system, called EyePassword, at Stanford University in California.
EyePassword works by shining an invisible infrared beam on the user’s face. That produces a reflection or “glint” in their eye that stays in the same spot no matter where they look, in contrast to their pupils, which move whenever their gaze shifts. A camera tracks the relative positions of the glint and the person’s pupils and uses this to work out what …”
Here is link to the article in the New Scientist Magazine (premium account required)
What is the future of authentication? Looking at all the available technologies in the consumer authentication market, it is possible to see two general trends, which seem to be going in somewhat different directions:
1) The first approach is to keep the old passwords, but build around them a layered protection mechanism. The key driver is the fear that the user will not want to accept any change in the way they authentication.
2) Another approach is to admit that passwords are the weakest link (really the passwords + users). This perspective calls for a paradigm shift in the way we use passwords in general. Rather than applying more and more patches on an inherently insecure authentication approach, why not look for an effective and simple way to adopt a new generation of passwords – Passwords 2.0? I guess the best illustration of this approach is to think of the car keys. We had keys because we have house keys and that’s what we know to be secure. Now, the newest cars have a “Start” button, while the “key” is reduced to a token device which in close proximity to the car acts as owner identification and allows the car to start. In a similar fashion, what worked for the mainframe in closed networks is obviously not working for the 21st century WWW and requires a paradigm shift – a new kind of “keys”.
Comments anyone?
But what are the key elements in the “next generation”, or Passwords 2.0 world of authentication? Dr. Norman Fraser (CEO of Tricerion) just published a white paper which addresses the issues of “guessability” and “shareability” of regular passwords, protecting against against these vulnerabilities without compromising usability. (I think I just set my personal record for the number of “-bilities” in once sentence).
Ever wonder why PINs consist of only four digits? BBC published an article on the inventor of the ATM – Mr. Shepherd-Barron. Here is what he has to say on that particular issue of usability of ATM passwords:
One by-product of inventing the first cash machine was the concept of the Pin number.
Mr Shepherd-Barron came up with the idea when he realised that he could remember his six-figure army number. But he decided to check that with his wife, Caroline.
“Over the kitchen table, she said she could only remember four figures, so because of her, four figures became the world standard,” he laughs.
Last year I got to see a prototype of the new OTP tokens which fits into a regular plastic credit card. I still wonder how they managed to put a battery there (and how long it will last). This is a very neat product. In terms of usability, this token has a higher chance of being popular with online bank users since we all carry at least one credit card at all times. It is easy to use and carry. The key is to make sure the battery lasts till the card exprires.
“VeriSign was expected to announce a deal with Innovative Card Technologies Inc. to outfit banks and e-commerce sites with cards that work with VeriSign’s password system.
With the card, consumers logging on to an online bank account, for instance, would type in their regular username and password, along with a six-digit code that appears on the card’s display window. That code constantly changes, meaning the customer needs to have possession of the card to access the account.”
Barclays bank seems to think that if chip-and-pin good enough for retail business, it’s good enough for online business. They are sending Pinsentry machines to 500,000 customers – machines that look like calculators and read chip-and-pin cards – generating one-time-passwords (OTPs). (Full article here)
So, here is the current multi-layered approach at Barclays:
• Debit Card (2nd factor)
• PIN number (1st factor)
• Pinsentry device (second 2nd factor)
• 8-digit one time password generated by the machine
Is this really a good design? The logistical support for this kind of system must be insane. How much does it cost to manage this operation? How long will the batteries last in those readers? Can I have one for my home and one for my office?
Besides, haven’t those guys heard of the Citibank phishing attack on their 2nd factor. Just look at this article in the Washington Post Blog.
Last year Bruce Schneier commented on Shell suspending Chip & Pin payments at their gas stations after losing £1m when fraudsters inserted little devices into the readers, which copied the cards’ magnetic strips and recorded customers’ pin numbers. Also, another article on hacking chip & pin here.
So, Chip & Pin is not safe, and hardware OTP systems are also vulnerable and costly. Why keep implementing these? Marketing perhaps? I am sure lots of people will feel better by having a bigger authentication device in their hands . . . size matters 
. Isn’t that the same argument that the MIT/Harvard study said about BofA implementation – “Sometimes the appearance of security is more important than security itself.”
A Canadian company came up with the idea of using a desktop webcam as an authentication device. The camera, essentially a biometric device, uses 40,000 identification points. Apparently, even if you had a beard and then shaved, the system will still recognize your face ( . . . your wife may not). I love this statement:
“The 3D DeskCam can remove the need for passwords, tokens or smart cards to log on to a computer or online services”
Yeah, right, we’ll be much happier to use a $350 desktop camera for authentication, rather than a ~$10 token, or ~$1 mutual authentication systems. And if you are reading this blog, chances are, you have more than one computer in your household.
During a phishing attack on MySpace.com, about 34,000 usernames and passwords were exposed. The most popular password . . . “password1”.
Yesterday, a man in Australia was caught hijacking email accounts and 90 eBay seller accounts by guessing the passwords, then selling imaginary iPods to buyers who trusted the positive rankings on those hijacked profiles. The article goes on the suggest that eBay and PayPal should use tokens to raise the security of the login process, as if it was possible to manage a logistical nightmare of giving out 100+ million tokens.
Here is a bit of humor at the expense of usability.
