Keystroke security developed for tablets and smartphones

Dubbed LatentGesture, the system was used during a Georgia Institute of Technology lab study using Android devices. The system is said to have been nearly 98 per cent accurate on a smartphone and 97 per cent correct on tablets. The research team will present the findings for the first time at the end of April. 

‘The system learns a person’s ‘touch signature,’ then constantly compares it to how the current user is interacting with the device,’ said Polo Chau, a Georgia Tech College of Computing assistant professor who led the study.

To test the system, Chau and his team set up an electronic form with a list of tasks for 20 participants. They were asked to tap buttons, check boxes and swipe slider bars on a phone and tablet to fill out the form. The system tracked their tendencies and created a profile for each person.

After profiles were stored, the researchers designated one person’s signature as the ‘owner’ of the device and repeated the tests. LatentGesture successfully matched the owner and flagged everyone else as unauthorised users.