Path Word: A Multimodal Password Entry Method for Ad-hoc Authentication Based on Digits' Shape and Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements

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Abstract

We present PathWord (PATH passWORD), a multimodal digit entry method for ad-hoc authentication based on known digits shape and user relative eye movements. PathWord is a touch-free, gaze-based input modality, which attempts to decrease shoulder surfing attacks when unlocking a system using PINs. The system uses a modified web camera to detect the user's eye. This enables suppressing direct touch, making it difficult for passer-bys to be aware of the input digits, thus reducing shoulder surfing and smudge attacks. In addition to showing high accuracy rates (Study 1: 87.1% successful entries) and strong confidentiality through detailed evaluations with 42 participants (Study 2), we demonstrate how PathWord considerably diminishes the potential of stolen passwords (on average 2.38% stolen passwords with PathWord vs. over 90% with traditional PIN screen). We show use-cases of PathWord and discuss its advantages over traditional input modalities. We envision PathWord as a method to foster confidence while unlocking a system through gaze gestures.

Publisher Link

https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3243008

Citation

Hassoumi Almoctar, Pourang Irani, Vsevolod Peysakhovich, and Christophe Hurter. 2018. Path Word: A Multimodal Password Entry Method for Ad-hoc Authentication Based on Digits' Shape and Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements. In Proceedings of the 20th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI '18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 268-277. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3242969.3243008

Bibtext Entry

@inproceedings{Almoctar:2018:PWM:3242969.3243008,
author = {Almoctar, Hassoumi and Irani, Pourang and Peysakhovich, Vsevolod and Hurter, Christophe},
title = {Path Word: A Multimodal Password Entry Method for Ad-hoc Authentication Based on Digits' Shape and Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 20th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction},
series = {ICMI '18},
year = {2018},
isbn = {978-1-4503-5692-3},
location = {Boulder, CO, USA},
pages = {268--277},
numpages = {10},
url = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/3242969.3243008},
doi = {10.1145/3242969.3243008},
acmid = {3243008},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
keywords = {eye tracking, interaction, smooth pursuit, touch-free interaction},
}