Think of a place, any place ...
Security researchers argue that access data generated by selected geographic information could drastically contribute to reducing the number of data breaches, as they are an "uncrackable" alternative to conventional codes.
The United Arab Emirates research team, ZSS-Research, has developed a new access control system that asks users to choose a place anywhere on the planet and then draw a virtual boundary around that position. The place that users choose could be anything, even a favorite tree in a park in the Eiffel Tower.
The system then draws selected geographic information such as latitude, latitude, height, and length of the virtual border in order to configure the user's password, which will be salted and hashed.
Given the randomness of site selection, but also the shape and size of the user-defined virtual boundary, the possible combinations are inexhaustible, but the resulting resulting password (i.e., the location) is memorable for the user.
"It's much easier to remember a place we've visited, than a large and complex password," says researcher Al-Salloum.
In addition, research shows that this control system effectively protects users from known threats:
"An effective replacement of conventional passwords could reduce data breaches by 76%, according to data based on the analysis of more than 47.000 reported security incidents," the investigator adds.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
