The big news this week regarding Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 software was that it features picture passwords, something that drew widespread attention but also some skepticism. Otherwise it was a week of rumors about what other features Microsoft's next big software release might contain and devices that might be coming out specifically to support it.
Picture Password
Microsoft has revealed a number of details on the Building Windows 8 blog regarding a new feature coming to Windows 8 dubbed "Picture Password". Upon hearing the name of the feature, you may assume (incorrectly) that it's some sort of integrated face recognition technique, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the contents of the picture used for the login password are somewhat irrelevant. It's actually touch gestures overlayed over the photo that are the foundation of Windows 8's picture password feature.
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A Microsoft product manager says: "At its core, your picture password is comprised of two complementary parts. There is a picture from your picture collection and a set of gestures that you draw upon it. Instead of having you pick from a canned set of Microsoft images, you provide the picture, because it increases both the security and the memorability of the password. You get to decide the content of the picture and the portions that are important to you. Plus, you get to see a picture that is important to you just like many people do on their phone lock screen."
Picture password is a toy
The major downside of the picture password is that drawing a finger across a photo on a touch screen is easy to video record from a distance - making it relatively easy to compromise, says Kenneth Weiss, who invented SecurID tokens and now runs a three-factor authentication business called Universal Secure Registry. Designers of alpha-numeric passwords recognize this danger and have responded to it by having password characters appear as dots on the screen so the password can't be copied down.
"I think it's cute," he says. "I don't think it's serious security."
Windows 8 to drive touchscreen sales
According to unnamed sources, makers of LCD touchscreens are expecting a spike in sales toward the end of 2012 in part thanks to the expected release of Windows 8, which capitalizes on touchscreen navigation and commands, including the above-mentioned picture password. Screen makers ViewSonic and Asustek say they expect vendors will be eager to launch touch monitors next year, all according to Digitimes.
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