New: Gestures may Replace Passwords for Mobiles

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

As more people use smart phones or tablets to pay bills, make purchases, store personal information, and even control access to their houses, the need for robust password security has become more critical than ever.

A new Rutgers University study shows that free-form gestures — sweeping fingers in shapes across the screen of a smart phone or tablet — can be used to unlock phones and grant access to apps. These gestures are less likely than traditional typed passwords or newer “connect-the-dots” grid exercises to be observed and reproduced by “shoulder surfers” who spy on users to gain unauthorized access.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

According to HomeLand Security News Wire the ability to create any shape in any size and location on the screen, the gestures had an inherent appeal as passwords. Since users create them without following a template, the researchers predicted these gestures would allow for greater complexity than grid-based gestures offer.