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Scientists Studying Ways To Make Computer Passwords More Secure
Mike Sachoff
Staff Writer
2009-11-12
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Computer scientists at Rutgers University are working on ways to make online passwords more secure.
 | | Scientists Studying Ways To Make Computer Passwords More Secure |  |
The scientist say when users forget their password for accessing their email account or an online shopping site the security questions, such as "what is your mothers maiden name?" are too easy for cybercriminals to guess.
Rutgers computer scientists are testing a new tactic that could be both easier and more secure.
"We call them activity-based personal questions," said Danfeng Yao, assistant professor of computer science in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. "Sites could ask you, 'When was the last time you sent an e-mail?' Or, 'What did you do yesterday at noon?'"
Early studies suggest that questions about recent activities are easy for legitimate users to answer but harder for potential attackers to find or guess.
"We want the question to be dynamic," she said. "The questions you get today will be different from the ones you would get tomorrow."
Yao said she gave students in her lab a list of questions related to network activities, physical activities and opinion questions, and told them to "attack" each other.
"We found that questions related to time are more robust than others. Many guessed the answer to the question, 'Who was the last person you sent e-mail to?' But fewer were able to guess, 'What time did you send your last e-mail?'"
Yao says that it should not be difficult for an online service provider to formulate these kinds of security questions by looking at its users' e-mail, calendar activities or previous transactions. Computers would have to use natural language processing tools to synthesize understandable questions and analyze the answers for accuracy.
Yao is proposing further studies to determine the practicality of the new approach and the best way to implement it.
View All Articles by Mike Sachoff
About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
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