Exploring the guessability of hand drawn images based on cultural characteristics

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine whether or not an attacker could guess hand drawn images chosen as graphical password by others, based on knowledge of some cultural information like where they are come from or their religion or even their hopes and aims. Also, the aim was therefore to ascertain at what level the cross-cultural influences might affect our choice and use of drawn images as password. The investigation made a comparison between Western (Scottish), Arab (Libyans) and Africans (Nigerians) as the comparison between regions which had been well investigated by previous researchers had tended to focus on Western and Eastern subjects. To conclude, it can be accepted that culture significantly affected drawings depending on some human factors such as gender, etc. Moreover, one clear result of this work is that it is apparently highly possible to guess other people's pass images if they contain cultural characteristics, especially religious marks, otherwise it is much more difficult to guess them, and also this depends on many factors. Finally, this paper outlines some rules and guidelines of drawing a strong secret graphical password.