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Microsoft Describes Hard-to-Mimic Authentication Gesture


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Microsoft has filed a patent for a method of unlocking a mobile device with a gesture.

Microsoft researchers have proposed a new method of unlocking a smartphone with a gesture.

Credit: Phys.org

A gesture-unlock method proposed by Microsoft researchers would enable smartphone users to secure their devices without having to use long passcodes of letters and numbers.

Microsoft has filed a patent for the authentication technique and believes it will be a big improvement over swiping functions.

The researchers say the technology makes it as easy and fast for users to perform a gesture that is difficult for attackers to reproduce, even if they are directly looking at users to see how they are authenticating the device.

Users would perform an authentication gesture to train their device. The technique captures biometric information such as finger position, finger length, angle between fingers, and other data to provide authentication information with a simple gesture and to make sure it is the device's owner making the unlock request.

"The system will be able to measure the angles between a user's finger, the exact timing of when your finger touches the screen, the size of your finger, and how much pressure is applied," says a Softpedia report. "As it turns out, these aspects are unique to each and every user out there."

From Phys.org
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