Method and apparatus for achieving secure password access
First Claim
1. A security method requiring entry of a password by an authorized user before an action will be allowed, said password comprising a plurality of actions in a predetermined sequence, said method comprising the steps of:
- (1) creating a sequence model of an expected password, said model comprising information defining a plurality of acts occurring in a specified sequence;
(2) creating a temporal model of time intervals between said acts comprising said password;
(3) comparing the sequence model to the password entered by the user and generating a first score from a first accuracy measurement of the sequence of actions of the password entered by the user as compared to the model sequence;
(4) comparing the temporal model to time intervals of the entered password and generating a second score from a second accuracy measurement of the time intervals of the password entered by the user as compared to the model time intervals;
(5) generating a PASS/FAIL output based on a combination score calculated from said first and second scores, wherein said combination score is dynamically adjusted to increase the ratio of said second score to said first score as the number of times said authorized user enters said password increases.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for enhancing the security of password security systems. The authorization decision related to passwords is based not only on entry of the correct characters in the correct sequence but also on the keystroke sequence timing associated with the typing habits of an authorized user. The keystroke sequence timing provides an additional security measure to each password similar to signature or fingerprint systems. Particularly, each person has a unique typing style and this uniqueness is captured in the present invention as keystroke sequence timing and used as an additional recognition means.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A security method requiring entry of a password by an authorized user before an action will be allowed, said password comprising a plurality of actions in a predetermined sequence, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) creating a sequence model of an expected password, said model comprising information defining a plurality of acts occurring in a specified sequence;
(2) creating a temporal model of time intervals between said acts comprising said password;
(3) comparing the sequence model to the password entered by the user and generating a first score from a first accuracy measurement of the sequence of actions of the password entered by the user as compared to the model sequence;
(4) comparing the temporal model to time intervals of the entered password and generating a second score from a second accuracy measurement of the time intervals of the password entered by the user as compared to the model time intervals;
(5) generating a PASS/FAIL output based on a combination score calculated from said first and second scores, wherein said combination score is dynamically adjusted to increase the ratio of said second score to said first score as the number of times said authorized user enters said password increases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A security method requiring entry of a password by an authorized user before access to a system will be allowed, said password comprising a plurality of characters in a predetermined sequence, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) creating a character sequence model of an expected password sequence, said model comprising entry of a plurality of characters in a specified sequence;
(2) creating a temporal model of timing intervals between entry of consecutive characters of said password by said user;
(3) comparing the character sequence model to a character sequence measured from the password entered by the user and generating a first score from a first accuracy measurement of the character sequence relative to the character sequence model;
(4) comparing the temporal model of timing intervals to timing intervals measured from the password entered by the user and generating a second score from a second accuracy measurement of the timing intervals of the password entered by the user to the temporal model;
(5) generating a PASS/FAIL output based on a combination score calculated from of both said first and second scores, wherein said combination score is dynamically adjusted to increase the ratio of said second score to said first score as the number of times said authorized user enters said password increases. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for providing password security for a system comprising:
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a memory for storing a model password, said model password comprising information concerning a plurality of acts occurring in a specified sequence and measurements of the time intervals between said acts;
an input device through which a user'"'"'s performance of said acts may be detected;
a first comparison circuit for comparing the specified model sequence to a sequence of a password entered by a user and generating a first score indicative of an accuracy measurement of the entered sequence to the specified model sequence;
a second comparison circuit for comparing the measurements of the time intervals of said model password to time intervals of a password entered by the user and generating a second score indicative of a second accuracy measurement of the timing intervals of the entered password to the measurements of the time intervals of the model password; and
an output circuit for combining said first and second scores to create an overall score and comparing said overall score to a threshold score to generate a PASS/FAIL output signal, wherein the ratio of said second score to said first score used to create said overall score is dynamically adjusted to increase as the number of times said user'"'"'s performance of said acts increases. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of restricting access to a system by requiring entry of a password, said password comprising a character sequence of alphanumeric characters, said characters being typed by a user in a habitual manner by a plurality of keystrokes, each of said characters having a particular keystroke, said method comprising the steps of:
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creating a model of an expected password, said model comprising a combination of a first score based upon said character sequence and a second score based upon temporal characteristics of typing habits of said user, wherein a ratio of said second score to said first score is dynamically increased as the number of times said characters are typed by said user;
receiving a user input of a password from said user;
comparing said user input to said model; and
generating a PASS/FAIL output based on the comparing step. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification