Gesture based Touchpad security system

In the current scenario, crackers have evolved to sophistically perform computer thefts and password cracking which in turn hampers the security of the system. Many security systems have been designed and adopted to keep intact the system security but none has yet proven to be flawless. Gesture based Touchpad security system is an attempt by young engineers from Cornell University to develop a secured security system.

The proposed technique makes use of a touch device to recognize symbols as passwords and takes time into account to add a new dimension and prevent password theft. The gesture based password system prevents user from incidentally uttering password or saving it in a readable text file. Moreover, the unique feature of the system is the use of time (time taken in doing each of the traces) as a dimension to check access into it.

The logical structure of the device can be divided into four independent entities – Touchpad Data Acquisition, User interface and program logic, Password representation and matching and PC management application. The program logic entity is the central block which keeps the state of the system, and establishes connection between all other entities. Touchpad acquisition system retrieves the raw user input touch data which is matched to the reference data in the password representation and matching entity.

The system hardware contains a TM41PUM13112 Synaptics touchpad, microcontroller ATMega644, buttons and Leds (for user input and feedback respectively), a FTDI converter and a USB connector.

The device is designed to be used by two types of users; regular users and administrator. For a regular user only the password entering system is visible while to an administrator the admin button is also visible allowing him to set a password for the system.

Learn more about the standards and software design used in the system and make a smart security system for your credentials.