Patent ID: 8539550

Claim:
A computer controlled method for authenticating a principal comprising: using a computer to acquire a multi-pattern authentication input having a plurality of input patterns, each of said plurality of input patterns having a temporal dimension and comprising corresponding independent input made by a user, wherein at least two of said plurality of input patterns overlap in said temporal dimension, and wherein the multi-pattern authentication gesture comprises one or more portions of the temporal dimensions where positional dimension coordinates are absent, said multi-pattern authentication input having a duration; comparing whether said multi-pattern authentication gesture is sufficiently similar to an available gesture template over a portion of said duration, wherein the comparing comprises determining whether one or more durations during which the positional dimension coordinates are absent are sufficiently similar to one or more durations for the available gesture template; upon determining that said multi-pattern authentication gesture is sufficiently similar to an available gesture template over the portion of said duration to allow at least some trust to said principal, determining a level-of-trust for said principal based on a degree of similarity of a match between the multi-pattern authentication gesture and the gesture template, wherein determining the level-of-trust comprises assigning a higher level-of-trust for more exact degree of similarity and a lower level-of-trust for a less exact degree of similarity, wherein the higher level-of-trust provides a level of access that includes a level of access that the lower level-of-trust provides; and assigning a level-of-trust to said principal responsive to comparing.