Patent ID: 8887269

Claim:
An authentication method comprising: determining an input sequence of at least one character entered by a user on an input device, determining a reference sequence of at least one reference character; and comparing the input sequence with the reference sequence; wherein the step of determining the input sequence comprises: determining a series of at least one force exerted on the input device with an inertial accelerometer when the sequence is input, wherein the at least one force displaces both an input portion of the input device and the inertial accelerometer, and determining a series of at least one time gap between two successive forces exerted on the input device, the reference sequence also comprising a series of at least one reference time gap associated with the user; wherein the step of determining the reference sequence comprises determining a series of at least one reference force associated with the user, wherein the step of comparing comprises comparing the series of at least one force exerted on the input device with the series of at least one reference force; and wherein the step of comparing further comprises comparing the series of at least one time gap between two successive forces exerted on the input device with the series of at least one reference time gap.