Dartmouth researchers develop biometric bracelet to secure your PC

Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed a wearable bracelet that uses a combination of wrist movement data and other biometrics as an identity authentication method, according to a report by CBR Online.

The average authentication method works solely when users log out from the computer terminal after using it. However, users frequently forget to log out, which creates a huge security risk, said researchers.

The Zero-Effort Bilateral Recurring Authentication, or ZEBRA, bracelet is designed to resolve this potential breach of security.

The bracelet is equipped with a built-in embedded accelerometer, a gyroscope and radio, all which record the wrist movements of the wearer when he or she is using a computer terminal.

The device then processes the information and transmits it to the terminal, which compares the wrist movement against the data it receives from the user via the keyboard and mouse.

“Because the bracelet is on the same hand that provides inputs to the terminal, the accelerometer and gyroscope data and input events received by the terminal should correlate because their source is the same – the user’s hand movement,” the researchers said.

According to researchers, the biometric device had an accuracy rate of 85% in verifying the correct user and identified all adversaries within 11 seconds following experiments.

“We confirm the user’s continued presence by observing what the user is doing from two different sources and comparing those observations; we call this bilateral authentication,” the researchers said. “This approach complements any method that may be used for initial authentication, such as a password, a token, or a fingerprint biometric.”

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometrics  |  IoT  |  research and development  |  security  |  wearables