Prevention of shoulder surfing attack using randomized square matrix virtual keyboard

Abstract

Password authentication in public space or using public computer infrastructure often poses the problem of disclosure either through spywares like keyloggers installed on target machine or a malicious onlooker who observes while the victim enters the password. Virtual keyboards offer protection against keyloggers but fail to prevent shoulder surfing. Recent attempts have attempted to improvise these keyboards by dynamically loading and changing the layout to confuse the snooping miscreant. Some attempt to introduce graphical passwords which have to be drawn in a particular geometry to authenticate the user. But even then they are vulnerable to attacks like screenshot capture, are not easy to integrate with existing systems & services and have major usability issues like longer authentication time, complexity in understanding among others. PassBoard is a new approach to tackle this problem.