BlinkPass: A Means of Securely Accessing Social Networks

Accessing social networking sites is a widespread application of smartphones. If these sites are not adequately protected, users’ personal information on these platforms can become an attractive target for intruders. Access to these sites is typically protected with the more conventional user authentication methods, such as PIN-based or pattern locks, which are vulnerable to a wide range of threats. These authentication measures are also vulnerable to being bypassed by attackers who seek to gain access to social networking sites in order to steal users’ personal information. BrightPass, a malware-resistant authentication system based on screen brightness, was introduced to circumvent these issues. However, it is possible to deduce the PIN numbers from the user’s previous authentication sessions by examining the recorded input. To mitigate this vulnerability, we propose a solution called BlinkPass that works using PIN-based authentication. This approach does not limit itself to securing social media sites; it can be extended to any application where a PIN-based security mechanism can be deployed.