Graffiti as a Password: A Natural for Tablet PCs and Touch Devices

Ars Technica is highlighting a new appraoch to password security: Draw a Secret. The idea behind this method is that humans do well at image recognition and not quite so well as remembring strings of numbers and characters. So, in an attempt to leverage that and create more secure methods for protecting information.

The improvement discussed this week involved a simple idea that improves essentially all aspects of DAS: drawing accuracy, complexity of the drawings, and memorability. The authors suggest that simply providing a background image to draw on—essentially making password entry an act akin to graffiti—handles all three of these concerns.

There are still some bumps in the road on this, but as the article points out, this is well suited to Tablet PCs and mobile devices that offer touch screens.