Researchers at Newcastle University have developed a system that could replace increasingly vulnerable passwords and PINs with personal pictures that you draw onto a screen. They have proven to be easier to remember, yet over 1,000 times more secure and offer more personal, creative interaction.

The new software, called Background Draw-a-Secret (BDAS), has been developed as a security feature for the latest handheld computers and mobile phones. It is being displayed at London’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition which opened yesterday.

It is designed so that the computer remembers the number and order of ‘pen’ strokes used to construct your unique image. This allows far more complex passwords to be formed than with traditional alpha-numeric security codes.

The picture passwords will take longer to setup initially, but the researchers are confident that users will find them easier to use day to day.

Source:
DailyMail UK