Using mouse strokes to verify user identity

Abstract

When faced with a login system, some users face the problem of forgetting their passwords. There are many user verification methods such as like retina scan or finger printing that do not require a user to have a password. They make use of a user’s physical traits to verify them. However, these methods do not come cheap and are hard to implement in on a large scale.

The mouse is a piece of relatively cheap peripheral hardware that most users with a computer would have. The aim of this project is to try to see if it is possible to verify a user using the mouse movements created by this user. The approach used in this project was to test for the mouse speed of the user when moving an object across the screen.

I have developed basic functionalities that enable the program to obtain the speed of mouse movement from a browser, to store the username and mouse speed during a registration process and use it for comparison in the login process. The result of the test was that testers were able login to the system 70% of the time, and when they try to login to other user’s accounts, a 20% success rate was observed.