Password secured sites - stepping forward with keystroke dynamics

Abstract

Computer authentication is a critical component of most computer systems -especially those used in e-commerce activities over the Internet. Global access to information makes security, namely the authentication process, a critical design issue in these systems. In what concerns to authentication, what is required is a reliable, hardware independent and efficient security system. In this paper, we propose an extension to a keystroke dynamics based security system. We provide evidence that completely software based systems can be as effective as expensive and cumbersome hardware based systems. Our system is a behavioral based system that captures the normal typing patterns of a user and uses that information, in addition to standard login/password security to provide a system that is user friendly and very effective at detecting imposters. The results provide a means of dealing with enhanced security that is growing in demand in Web based applications based on e-commerce.