Think 'friend' and enter: Lock your PC with 'passthoughts'

The Doors of Durin may have been protected by much more powerful spells, but today's computers may benefit from cybersecurity that's nothing less than magical.

 

With hackers and cybercriminals determined to crack your online passwords, here's something new to thwart them —at least for now: passthoughts. 'Passthoughts'

 

Researchers at the UC Berkeley School of Information have developed a way to have people gain access to their online accounts just by thinking of their passcodes.

 

"By measuring brainwaves with biosensor technology, researchers are able to replace passwords with 'passthoughts' for computer authentication," tech site Mashable reported.

 

It added that since brainwaves are unique to each individual, "even if someone knew your passthought, their emitted electroencephalogram (EEG) signals would be different."

 

Mashable said one setup involves a $100 Bluetooth headset whose sensor detects EEG signals from the brain and relays them to a device.

 

"The key to passthoughts, researchers found, is finding a mental task that users won’t mind repeating on a daily basis," it added.

 

Mental testing

 

The researchers tested the concept on a group of subjects who were asked to perform seven mental tasks with the device, letting actions like focusing or breathing authenticate their accounts.

 

Mashable said most of the participants had difficulty imagining performing an action from their favorite sport "because it was unnatural to imagine movement without using their muscles."

 

However, it was easier to "count objects of a specific color or imagine singing a song." — TJD, GMA News