User biometric information‐based secure method for smart devices. (29th March 2017) - Su, Xin
Summary: Secure mechanisms have been adapted to satisfy the needs of mobile subscribers; however, the mobile environment is quite different from a desktop PC or laptop‐based environment. The existing attack patterns in mobile environments are also quite different, and the countermeasures applied should be enhanced. In regards to usability, the mobile environment is based on mobility, and thus, mobile devices are designed and developed to enhance the owner's efficiency. To avoid forgetting passwords, people are willing to adopt simple alphanumeric‐character combinations, which are easy to remember and convenient to enter. As a result, the passwords have a high probability of being cracked or exposed. In this paper, we study the potential security problems caused by simple and weak passwords, discuss drawbacks of some conventional works, and propose 3 creative schemes to increase the complexity and strength of passwords by applying the envisioned features. Note that our proposals are based on the assumption that the textual passwords are not difficult for users to remember or enter and do not cause inconvenience to users. In other words, the proposed methods can increase the complexity of simple passwords without the awareness of users.