Paper 2005/121
Pass-thoughts: Authenticating With Our Minds
Julie Thorpe, P. C. van Oorschot, and Anil Somayaji
Abstract
We present a novel idea for user authentication that we call pass-thoughts. Recent advances in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology indicate that there is potential for a new type of human-computer interaction: a user transmitting thoughts directly to a computer. The goal of a pass-thought system would be to extract as much entropy as possible from a user’s brain signals upon “transmitting” a thought. Provided that these brain signals can be recorded and processed in an accurate and repeatable way, a pass-thought system might provide a quasi two-factor, changeable, authentication method resilient to shoulder-surfing. The potential size of the space of a pass-thought system would seem to be unbounded in theory, due to the lack of bounds on what composes a thought, although in practice it will be finite due to system constraints. In this paper, we discuss the motivation and potential of pass-thought authentication, the status quo of BCI technology, and outline the design of what we believe to be a currently feasible pass-thought system. We also briefly mention the need for general exploration and open debate regarding ethical considerations for such technologies.
Metadata
- Available format(s)
- Category
- Applications
- Publication info
- Published elsewhere. Unknown where it was published
- Keywords
- AuthenticationPasswords
- Contact author(s)
- jthorpe @ scs carleton ca
- History
- 2005-04-21: received
- Short URL
- https://ia.cr/2005/121
- License
-
CC BY
BibTeX
@misc{cryptoeprint:2005/121, author = {Julie Thorpe and P. C. van Oorschot and Anil Somayaji}, title = {Pass-thoughts: Authenticating With Our Minds}, howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2005/121}, year = {2005}, url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2005/121} }