Patent ID: 8874912

Claim:
A system, comprising: a user computing device having a display device, the user computing device configured to receive, via a network, data indicative of a graphical key pad and to display via the display device the graphical key pad based on the data, wherein the user computing device is configured to receive user input for selecting icons of the graphical key pad, each selection of an icon of the graphical key pad by the user input representing at least one character of a personal identifier (PI) for authenticating a user of the user computing device, the user computing device further configured to transmit, via the network, icon location data indicative of screen locations of the selected icons in response to the user input; an authentication facilitator configured to transmit the data indicative of the graphical key pad to the user computing device via the network and to receive from the user computing device via the network the icon location data indicative of the screen locations of the selected icons, the authentication facilitator further configured to recover the PI based on the icon location data and to translate the recovered PI to obtain a translated PI, the authentication facilitator further configured to transmit the translated PI; and a partner computing apparatus located remotely from the authentication facilitator and configured to receive the translated PI from the authentication facilitator, the partner computing apparatus further configured to authenticate the user for allowing the user access to a secured area based upon the translated PI.