Lock screen

Abstract: A lot of research is being conducted into improving the usability and security of phone-unlocking. There is however a severe lack of scientic data on users’ current unlocking behavior and perceptions. We performed an online survey (n = 260) and a one-month eld study ( n = 52) to gain insights into real world (un)locking behavior of smartphone users. One of the main goals was to nd out how much overhead unlocking and authenticating adds to the overall phone usage and in how many unlock interactions security (i.e. authentication) was perceived as necessary. We also investigated why users do or do not use a lock screen and how they cope with smartphone-related risks, such as shouldersurng or unwanted accesses. Among other results, we found that on average, participants spent around 2.9 % of their smartphone interaction time with authenticating (9 % in the worst case). Participants that used a secure lock screen like PIN or Android unlock patterns considered it unnecessary in 24.1 % of situations. Shoulder surng was perceived to be a relevant risk in only 11 of 3410 sampled situations.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of deactivating the touch screen lock in a portable electronic device comprising a touch screen and means for locking the touch screen. The method comprises detecting touches on predetermined contact areas on the touch screen in a given order during touch screen lock and deactivating the touch screen lock once said touches on said predetermined contact areas are detected. The invention also relates to a portable electronic device comprising a touch screen and means for locking the touch screen. The device comprises means for detecting touches on predetermined contact areas on the touch screen in a given order during touch screen lock and deactivating the touch screen lock once said touches on said predetermined contact areas are detected.

Abstract: A device with a touch sensitive display and a plurality of applications, including a camera application, while the device is in a locked, passcode-protected state: displays a lock screen interface, the lock screen interface including a camera access indicia; detects a gesture; in response to a determination that the gesture starts on the camera access indicia: ceases to display the lock screen interface; starts a restricted session for the camera application; displays an interface for the camera application, without displaying a passcode entry interface; and maintains the device in the locked, passcode-protected state for the applications other than the camera application; and in response to a determination that the gesture starts at a location other than the camera access indicia: displays a passcode entry interface, wherein in response to entry of a correct passcode in the passcode entry interface, the device enters an unlocked state.

Abstract: Current smartphones generally cannot continuously authenticate users during runtime. This poses severe security and privacy threats: A malicious user can manipulate the phone if bypassing the screen lock. To solve this problem, our work adopts a continuous and passive authentication mechanism based on a user’s touch operations on the touchscreen. Such a mechanism is suitable for smartphones, as it requires no extra hardware or intrusive user interface. We study how to model multiple types of touch data and perform continuous authentication accordingly. As a first attempt, we also investigate the fundamentals of touch operations as biometrics by justifying their distinctiveness and permanence. A onemonth experiment is conducted involving over 30 users. Our experiment results verify that touch biometrics can serve as a promising method for continuous and passive authentication.