Multi-factor authentication based on movement and gesture (2017)

Security and usability are in constant touch with each other. It is in the nature of security methods that, the more secure they are, the more they complicate interactions. Yet users dislike using complex interactions, particularly frequent ones such as unlocking a mobile phone for calling. The primary goal of this work is to provide novel engineering methods for the authentication process in order to improve the relationship between security and usability. Therefore, this work introduces three methods: “Authentication Based on Movement and Audio Analysis, “MagiTact” and “Pingu.” The first two approaches focus primarily on mobile devices since they use sensors embedded in them such as accel-erometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers for recognizing movement and gestures. The third method introduces a self-designed finger ring with the same sensors, which enables users benefit from gesture-based methods on non-mobile devices. Furthermore, the ring includes a touch sensor for improving interactions, an LED and force sensor for feed-back and a Bluetooth sensor for connectivity to other devices like a PC. This work additionally explores the impact of interaction design on implementing gesture-based methods. The first method, Authentication Based on Movement and Audio Analysis, is intended to aid in extending security functionalities on mobile handsets and presents our research results concerning both the analysis of movements in addition to the ambient audio signals captured by mobile devices. This method presents how the identity of a user can be verified by his or her mobile device based on the pattern of his or her regular physical activities such as walking. This allows for implicit and continuous re-identification of the user. The implicit process does not require the active participation of the user and allows authentication during regular daily activities [1]. Magitact proposes a new approach for the "around device interaction" based on magnetic field interaction. The new approach takes advantage of the digital compass embedded in the new generation of mobile devices. The user movements of a suitably shaped magnet around the device deform the original magnetic field. The magnet is taken or worn around the finger. The changes made in the magnetic field pattern around the device constitute a new way of interacting with the device. The mobile device samples the temporary status of the field. The field changes, caused by hand gestures, are used as a basis for sending interaction commands to the device. We have tested the proposed methodology for a variety of applications such as interactions with the user interface of a mobile device, character (digit) entry, user authentication, gaming and touchless mobile music synthesis [2]. Pingu presents a self-designed finger ring with a multi-sensor for providing a highly secure access system. It allows users to make a 3D signature and record the temporal pattern of the signature via an advanced set of sensors. As a result, the user creates a 3D signature in the air using his or her finger. This approach has two main contributions: (1) compared to other wearable devices, a finger ring is more socially acceptable, and (2) signatures created via a finger in the air or on a surface leave no visible track and, thus, are extremely difficult to forge. In other words, a 3D signature allows much higher flexibility in choosing a safe signature. The experiments with this ring illustrate that the proposed hardware and methodology could result in a high level of user authentication/identification performance [2, 3]