Novel Authentication Concepts

Ubicomp devices, such as smart phones and smart watches, allow sensitive information to be accessed anytime, anywhere. Such information include personal information on the devices themselves (personal images, tracking data, etc.) but also information that is stored in the cloud. The ever-increasing number of technologies create both opportunities and challenges: personal, and in particular wearable devices, allow data to be collected and accessed in novel contexts, thus providing the user with valuable, context-based services of information on his well-being. In contrast, new sensing technologies, including but not limited to eye trackers and thermal cameras, also enable novel forms of attacking authentication mechanisms meant to protect such data.

At the same time, the way we interact with ubicomp devices is constantly changing. While until the advent of the PC and the Internet authentication mechanisms based on login and password were used to protect only very few devices, such as the user’s workstation, as well as to authenticate a few times per day (in the morning, after lunch, after the coffee break), the way we interact with technology today is considerably different and likely to further change in the future. Today, users protect data accessible through on average 80 online accounts with on average 20 passwords. Considering the smartphone alone, users authenticate more than 200 times per day. This creates a need to fundamentally rethink how we design for security in general and for authentication in particular. On one hand, there is a need to design mechanisms that better blend with the user’s daily activities (usability). On the other hand, authentication mechanisms need to be able and cope with threats that arise from the advent of new sensing technologies (security).