Volume 8 - Issue 2
ClickPattern: A Pattern Lock System Resilient to Smudge and Side-channel Attacks
- Meriem Guerar
DEI - University of Padua, Padua, Italy
guerar@dei.unipd.it
- Alessio Merlo
DIBRIS - University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
alessio@dibris.unige.it
- Mauro Migliardi
DEI - University of Padua, Padua, Italy
mauro.migliardi@unipd.it
Keywords: Mobile Security, Authentication, Side Channel Attack, Smudge Attack.
Abstract
Pattern lock is a very popular mechanism to secure authenticated access to mobile terminals; this
is mainly due to its ease of use and the fact that muscle memory endows it with an extreme memorability.
Nonetheless, pattern lock is also very vulnerable to smudge and side channels attacks,
thus its actual level of security has been often considered insufficient. In this paper we describe a
mechanism that enhances pattern lock security with resilience to smudge and side channel attacks,
maintains a comparable level of memorability and provides ease of use that is still comparable with
Pattern Lock while outperforming other schemes proposed in the literature. To prove our claim, we
have performed a usability test with 51 volunteers and we have compared our results with the other
schemes.