Thursday, August 2, 2018
Sound Proof Wants to Make 2 Factor Authentication Cooler with Ambient Sound
Sound Proof Wants to Make 2 Factor Authentication Cooler with Ambient Sound
In this digital life, the issue of privacy is always a concern. �Privacy is dead� they say but internet based companies have tried to remedy
that by enabling two factor authentication which makes sure you�re the one logging in your account. The problem however is that two factor authentication is laborious when compared to password only authentication. You have to endure processes like receiving a verification number to your phone which you input on a dialog box on the website so as to log in.
A group of researchers from ETH Zurich wrote a paper on how they can use ambient sound around you as a �usable two factor authentication�. On the abstract, just like I said before, they highlighted that �One reason why two factor authentication is so unpopular is the extra steps that the user must complete in order to login in�. They proposed SoundProof as a �practicable and deployable� two factor authentication method where they compare ambient noise recorded by microphones between two devices in proximity with each others.
How does it work? Well Soundproof works by using your phone as the second authentication factor. When you log in, the two devices (your laptop and phone) will record the background noise via their microphones.The phone will now compare the two recordings to determine if the computer is in the same environment as you which validates your authenticity.
The researchers claim that they have built apps for both Android and iOS and Sound Proof works with Chrome, Firefox & Opera without the need for plugins. They claim that Sound-Proof doesn�t require the user to interact with the phone and works even when it is in the pocket. Sound-Proof adds less than 5 seconds to the whole password-only login operation they say, which is shorter than the time that is needed to login via verification codes, which is estimated at around 25 seconds.
Sound-Proof sounds like a great idea of shortening the verification time, which is more than welcome. However the idea that it will use your microphones on the go will raise the issue of privacy. To quell this particular concern, Sound-Proof will encrypt the audios on the computer and decrypt it on the phone.
SOURCE:Techweez.com
