Narrative authentication system

Researchers have developed a ‘narrative authentication’ system that could put an end to the need of remembering complex passwords to logging onto computer systems.


The new system has been developed by Carson Brown and his colleagues over at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. The main idea behind the system is to log a user’s activities on the system or any other device that he / she may be using and then ask questions about them as and when a user wants to logon to the system next time.
The ‘narrative authentication’ system involves the use of logging software running in the background on a computer or smartphone. This software will log activities such as how long did you play a particular game or what game did you play or when did you stop playing the game. The software may also log activities on your social networks and check-ins that you would have made.
Users can interact with the logging software and add their own events in the real world like wedding dates, holidays, travel dates, etc.

Brown said that once the system is setup and enough data is fed, the system will ask questions based on records.
This does raise concerns about the authentication system’s security and the privacy of users. What if the authentication system was itself a target of the hack? What if someone else managed to gain access to the logging data? Let us know your views in the comments section.

Comments