Cyber Times International Journal of Technology & Management

Whenever a key is pressed on the keyboard, an electrical signal is generated, which is then decoded by our operating system in order to know which key was pressed. This decoded information is made available to all programs that are running on the computer. This feature of Operating Systems is exploited by programs called keyloggers, which keep record of every key that is pressed on the keyboard and later send that data to their creator. This data includes passwords, private messages, etc. The research below will demonstrate methods for elimination of such vulnerabilities. The solution presented in this paper against the kind of threats posed by keyloggers is Pattern Based Locking System (PBLS), in which, the user is presented with pattern-set (containing gesture pads) on the screen and the user can use his mouse to hover (not click, for the sake of maintaining user-friendliness & security) over those gesture pads in a previously specified pattern in order to authenticate his identity. This technology eliminates keyloggers threats when combined with methods active against network interception. A unique ID is generated for every pattern and there are literally infinite number of patterns possible since repetition of gestures is allowed. Moreover additional security can be attained over traditional keyboard based locking systems by encouraging users to make signature patterns with a finishing stroke. Since no key is ever pressed during the entire procedure of authentication, there is no vulnerability from keyloggers.