Passwords are the bane of modern living. Choose a simple one that you find easy to remember, and somebody else may guess it. Choose a complicated word, and it鈥檚 harder to guess but easier to forget. However, IBM has an interesting new idea that may help.
A user chooses a simple password, but instead of typing its alphanumeric characters in order into a linear box, they enter them in a sequence of their choosing at different points distributed around a logon screen (US 2004/111646).
The screen displays a grid of text entry windows, which the user can select in any order 鈥� left to right, clockwise or anticlockwise, or perhaps in a zigzag pattern from top to bottom.
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So if the password is 鈥淢ary鈥�, M is entered in one window, A in the next, and so on, following the chosen pattern. Although someone might guess the word 鈥淢ary鈥�, they would also have to guess the pattern of windows in order to make use of it.
