DARPA plans to distribute research funds to develop software that does away with computer passwords, but instead can tell a person’s identity just by the way they type, according to The New York Times.
DARPA Program Manager Richard Guidorizzi said that complex passwords, such as those with random letters, numbers and signs are not compatible with the way people think. Instead, people look to make manageable passwords such a loved one’s name followed by a simple progression of numbers or signs.
“What I’d like to do,” Guidorizzi told the Times, “is move to a world where you sit down at a console, you identify yourself, and you just start working, and the authentication happens in the background, invisible to you, while you continue to do your work without interruptions.”
Instead of using innovations like biometric sensors, the technology would rely on a person’s behavioral characteristics such as the length of time a person holds down a key when typing.
