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1.ABSTRACT

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1.ABSTRACT

Current authentication systems suffer from many weaknesses. Textual passwords

are commonly used; however, users do not follow their requirements. Users tend
to choose meaningful words from dictionaries, which make textual passwords
easy to break and vulnerable to dictionary or brute force attacks. Many available
graphical passwords have a password space that is less than or equal to the textual
password space. Smart cards or tokens can be stolen. Many biometric
authentications have been proposed; however, users tend to resist using
biometrics because of their intrusiveness and the effect on their privacy.
Moreover, biometrics cannot be revoked. In this paper, we present and evaluate
our contribution, i.e., the 3-D password. The 3-D password is a multifactor
authentication scheme. To be authenticated, we present a 3-D virtual environment
where the user navigates and interacts with various objects. The sequence of
actions and interactions toward the objects inside the 3-D environment constructs
the user’s 3-D password. The 3-D password can combine most existing
authentication schemes such as textual passwords, graphical passwords, and
various types of biometrics into a 3-D virtual environment. The design of the 3-
D virtual environment and the type of objects selected determine the 3-D
password key space.

Keywords: 3D Password, Multi-factor Authentication, Recall, Recognition,

Token, Virtual Environment.

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2.INTRODUCTION

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2.INTRODUCTION

Users nowadays are provided with major password stereotypes such as textual passwords,
biometric scanning, tokens or cards (such as an ATM) etc. Mostly textual passwords
follow an encryption algorithm as mentioned above. Biometric scanning is your "natural"
signature and Cards or Tokens prove your validity. But some people hate the fact to carry
around their cards, some refuse to undergo strong IR exposure to their retinas(Biometric
scanning).Mostly textual passwords, nowadays, are kept very simple say a word from the
dictionary or their pet names, girlfriends etc. Years back Klein performed such tests and
he could crack 10-15 passwords per day. Now with the technology change, fast processors
and many tools on the Internet this has become a Child's Play.

Therefore we present our idea, the 3D passwords which are more customizable and
very interesting way of authentication. Now the passwords are based on the fact of Human
memory. Generally simple passwords are set so as to quickly recall them. The human
memory, in our scheme has to undergo the facts of Recognition, Recalling, Biometrics or
Token based authentication. Once implemented and you log in to a secure site, the 3D
password GUI opens up. This is an additional textual password which the user can simply
put. Once he goes through the first authentication, a 3D virtual room will open on the
screen. In our case, lets say a virtual garage. Now in a day to day garage one will find all
sorts of tools, equipments, etc.each of them having unique properties. The user will then
interact with these properties accordingly. Each object in the 3D space, can be moved
around in an (x,y,z) plane. Thats the moving attribute of each object. This property is
common to all the objects in the space. Suppose a user logs in and enters the garage. He
sees and picks a screw-driver (initial position in xyz coordinates (5, 5, 5)) and moves it 5
places to his right (in XY plane i.e. (10, 5, 5).

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That can be identified as an authentication. Only the true user understands and recognizes
the object which he has to choose among many. This is the Recall and Recognition part of
human memory coming into play. Interestingly, a password can be set as approaching a
radio and setting its frequency to number only the user knows. Security can be enhanced
by the fact of including Cards and Biometric scanner as input. There can be levels of
authentication a user can undergo.

Textual
passwords
Recall-based techniques require the user to repeat or reproduce a secret that the user
created before. Recognition based techniques require the user to identify and recognize
the secret, or part of it, that the user selected before. One of the most common recall-
based authentication schemes used in the computer world is textual passwords. One major
drawback of the textual password is its two conflicting requirements: the selection of
passwords that are easy to remember and, at the same time, are hard to guess.
[2]
Klein collected the passwords of nearly 15 000 accounts that had alphanumerical
passwords, and he reached the following observation: 25% of the passwords were
guessed by using a small yet well- formed dictionary of 3 X 106 words. Furthermore,
21% of the passwords were guessed in the first week and 368 passwords were guessed
within the first 15 min. Klein [2] stated that by looking at these results in a system with
about 50 accounts, the first account can be guessed in2 min and 5–15 accounts can
[2]
be guessed in the first day. Klein showed that even though the full textual password
space for eight-character passwords consisting of letters and numbers is almost 2 X
1014 possible passwords, it is easy to crack 25% of the passwords by using only a small
subset of the full password space. It is important to note that Klein’s experiment was in
1990 when the processing capabilities, memory, networking, and other resources were
very limited compared to today’s technology.

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Graphical
passwords
Various graphical password schemes have been proposed. Graphical passwords are
based on the idea that users can recall and recognize pictures better than words.
However, some of the graphical password schemes require a long time to be performed.
Moreover, most of the graphical passwords can be easily observed or recorded while
the legitimate user is performing the graphical password; thus, it is vulnerable to
shoulder surfing attacks. Currently, most graphical passwords are still in their research
phase and require more enhancements and usability studies to deploy them in the market.

Biometrics
Many biometric schemes have been proposed; fingerprints, palmprints, hand geometry,
face recognition, voice recognition, iris recognition, and retina recognition are all
different biometric schemes. Each biometric recognition scheme has its advantages and
disadvantages based on several factors such as consistency, uniqueness, and
acceptability. One of the main drawbacks of applying biometrics is its intrusiveness
upon a user’s personal characteristic. Moreover, retina biometrical recognition schemes
require the user to willingly subject their eyes to a low-intensity infrared light. In
addition, most biometric systems require a special scanning device to authenticate users,
which is not applicable for remote and Internet users.

3D
Passwords
The 3-D password is a multifactor authentication scheme. It can combine all existing
authentication schemes into a single 3-D virtual environment. This 3-D virtual
environment contains several objects or items with which the user can interact. The
type of interaction varies from one item to another.

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The 3-D password is constructed by observing the actions and interactions of the
user and by observing the sequences of such actions.

It is the user’s choice to select which type of authentication techniques will be part
of their 3- D password. This is achieved through interacting only with the objects that
acquire information that the user is comfortable in providing and ignoring the objects
that request information that the user prefers not to provide. For example, if an item
requests an iris scan and the user is not comfortable in providing such information,
the user simply avoids interacting with that item. Moreover, giving the user the freedom
of choice as to what type of authentication schemes will be part of their 3-D password
and given the large number of objects and items in the environment, the number of
possible 3-D passwords will increase. Thus, it becomes much more difficult for the
attacker to guess the user’s 3-D password.

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3.RELATED WORKS

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3.RELATED WORKS

[6]–[8] [10]–[12]
Many graphical password schemes have been proposed , . Blonder[6]
introduced the first graphical password schema. Blonder’s idea of graphical passwords
is that by having a predetermined image, the user can select or touch regions of the
image causing the sequence and the location of the touches to construct the user’s
graphical password. After Blonder[6] , the notion of graphical passwords was
developed. Many graphical password schemes have been proposed.

Déjà Vu

n Pass-faces
Based

Graphical Story Scheme

passwords

Pass-point
Recall
Based
Draw a Secret
(DAS)

Fig.1 – Graphical Passwords – Classification

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[7]
Dhamija and Perrig proposed Déjà Vu, which is a Recognition-based graphical
password system that authenticates Users by choosing portfolios among decoy
portfolios. These portfolios are art randomized portfolios.

Each image is derived from an 8-B seed. Therefore, an authentication server does
not need to store the whole image; it simply needs to store the 8-B seed.Another
recognition- based graphical password is Passfaces [8].

Passfaces simply works by having the user select a subgroup of k faces from a group of
n faces. For authentication, the system shows m faces and one of the faces belongs to
the subgroup k. The user has to do the selection many times to complete the
[9]
authentication process. Another scheme is the Story scheme , which requires
the selection of pictures of objects (people, cars, foods, airplanes, sightseeing, etc.) to
form a story line. Davis et al. [9] concluded that the user’s choices in Passfaces and in the
Story scheme result in a password space that is far less than the theoretical entropy.
Therefore, it leads to an insecure authentication scheme. The graphical password
[6]
schema of Blonder is considered to be recall based since the user must remember
[10]–[12]
selection locations. Moreover, PassPoint is a recall-based graphical password
schema, where a background picture is presented and the user is free to select any point
on the picture as the user’s password (user’s PassPoint). Draw a Secret (DAS),
which is a recall-based graphical password schema and introduced by Jermyn et al.
[13]
, is simply a grid in which the user creates a drawing. The user’s drawings, which
consist of strokes, are considered to be the user’s password. The size and the complexity
of the grid affect the probable password space. Larger grid sizes increase the full
password space. However, there are limitations in grid complexity due to human error.
It becomes very hard to recall where the drawing started and ended and where the middle
points were if we have very large grid sizes.

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One important type of authentication is based on who you are or, in other words,
biometrics. Biometric recognition systems have been exhaustively studied as a way of
authentication. Fingerprints, palmprints, face recognition, voice recognition, and iris
and retina recognition are all different methodologies of biometric recognition
systems.

• Human properties are vulnerable to change from time to time due to several
reasons such as aging, scarring, face makeup, change of hairstyle, and sickness
(change of voice).

• People tend to resist biometrics for different reasons. Some people think that
keeping a copy of the user’s fingerprints is not acceptable and is a threat to the
user’s privacy. In addition, some users resist the idea of a low-intensity infrared
light or any other kind of light directed at their eyes, such as in retina recognition
systems.

• Biometrics cannot be revoked, which leads to a dilemma in case the user’s data
have been forged. Unlike other authentication schemes where the user can alter
his/her textual password in case of a stolen password or replace his/her token
if it has been stolen or forged, a user’s biometrics cannot be revoked.

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4.SCHEME

In this section, we present a multifactor authentication scheme that combines the

benefits of various authentication schemes. We attempted to satisfy the following
requirements.

1. The new scheme should not be either recall based or Recognition based only.

Instead, the scheme should be a combination of recall-, recognition-, biometrics-

, and Token-based authentication schemes.

2. Users ought to have the freedom to select whether the 3-D password will be

solely recall-, biometrics-, recognition-, or token-based, or a combination of

two schemes or more. This freedom of selection is necessary because users are
different and they have different requirements. Some users do not like to carry
cards. Some users do not like to provide biometrical data, and some users have
poor memories. Therefore, to ensure high user acceptability, the user’s freedom
of selection is important.

3. The new scheme should provide secrets that are easy to remember and

very difficult for intruders to guess.

4. The new scheme should provide secrets that are not easy to write down on paper.

Moreover, the scheme secrets should be difficult to share with others.

5. The new scheme should provide secrets that can be easily revoked or changed.

Based on the aforementioned requirements, we propose our contribution, i.e., the

3-D password authentication scheme.

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3D Password Overview

The 3-D password is a multifactor authentication scheme. The 3-D password presents a
3-D virtual environment containing various virtual objects. The user navigates
through this environment and interacts with the objects. The 3-D password is simply
the combination and the sequence of user interactions that occur in the 3-D virtual
environment. The 3-D password can combine recognition-, recall-, token-, and
biometrics-based systems into one authentication scheme. This can be done by
designing a 3-D virtual environment that contains objects that request information to
be recalled, information to be recognized, tokens to be presented, and biometrical
data to be verified. For example, the user can enter the virtual environment and type
something on a computer that exists in (x1, y1, z1) position, then enter a room that
has a fingerprint recognition device that exists in a position (x2, y2, z2) and provide
his/her fingerprint. Then, the user can go to the virtual garage, open the car door, and
turn on the radio to a specific channel. The combination and the sequence of the
previous actions toward the specific objects construct the user’s 3-D password.

Virtual objects can be any object that we encounter in real life. Any obvious actions and
interactions toward the real-life objects can be done in the virtual 3-D environment
toward the virtual objects. Moreover, any user input (such as speaking in a specific
location) in the virtual 3-D environment can be considered as a part of the 3-D password.
We can have the following objects:

1. A computer with which the user can type;

2. A fingerprint reader that requires the user’s fingerprint;

3. A computer with which the user can type;

4. A fingerprint reader that requires the user’s fingerprint;

5. A biometrical recognition device;

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6. A paper or a white board that a user can write, sign, or Draw on;

7. An automated teller machine (ATM) that requests a token;

8. A light that can be switched on/off;

9. A television or radio where channels can be selected;

10. A staple that can be punched;

11. A car that can be driven;

12. A book that can be moved from one place to another;

13. Any graphical password scheme;

14. Any real-life object;

15. Any upcoming authentication scheme.

The action toward an object (assume a fingerprint recognition device) that exists in
location (x1, y1, z1) is different from the actions toward a similar object (another
fingerprint recognition device) that exists in location (x2, y2, z2), where x1!= x2,
y1!= y2, and z1!= z2. Therefore, to perform the legitimate 3-D password, the user
must follow the same scenario performed by the legitimate user. This means interacting
with the same objects that reside at the exact locations and perform the exact actions in
the proper sequence.

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3d Password Selection and Inputs

Let us consider a 3-D virtual environment space of size G x G x G. The 3-D
environment space is represented by the coordinates (x, y, z) Є [1, . . . , G] x [1, . . .
, G] x [1, . . . , G]. The objects are distributed in the 3-D virtual environment with
unique (x, y, z) coordinates. We assume that the user can navigate into the 3-D virtual
environment and interact with the objects using any input device such as a mouse,
keyboard, fingerprint scanner, iris scanner, stylus, card reader, and microphone. We
consider the sequence of those actions and interactions using the previous input devices
as the user’s 3-D password. For example, consider a user who navigates through the 3-
D virtual environment that consists of an office and a meeting room. Let us assume that
the user is in the virtual office and the user turns around to the door located in (10, 24,
91) and opens it. Then, the user closes the door. The user then finds a computer to the
left, which exists in the position (4, 34, 18),And the user types “FALCON.” Then,
the user walks to the meeting room and picks up a pen located at (10, 24, 80) and draws
only one dot in a paper located in (1, 18, 30), which is the dot (x, y) coordinate relative
to the paper space is (330, 130). The user then presses the login button. The initial
representation of user actions in the 3-D virtual environment can be recorded as follows:

(10, 24, 91) Action = Open the office door;

(10, 24, 91) Action = Close the office door;
(4, 34, 18) Action = Typing, “F”;
(4, 34, 18) Action = Typing, “A”;
(4, 34, 18) Action = Typing, “L”;
(4, 34, 18) Action = Typing, “C”;
(4, 34, 18) Action = Typing, “O”;
(4, 34, 18) Action = Typing, “N”

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(10, 24, 80) Action = Pick up the pen;

(1, 18, 80) Action = Drawing, point = (330, 130).

(a) (b)

Fig.2 – (a) Snapshot of a proof-of-concept 3-D virtual environment, where the user is typing a
textual password on a virtual computer as a part of the user’s 3-D password. (b) Snapshot of a proof-
of-concept virtual art gallery, which contains 36 pictures and six computers

To simplify the idea of how a 3-D password works, Fig. 2 shows a state diagram of a
possible 3-D password authentication system.

3-D Virtual Environment Design Guidelines

Designing a well-studied 3-D virtual environment affects the usability, effectiveness,
and acceptability of a 3-D password system. Therefore, the first step in building a 3-D
password system is to design a 3-D environment that reflects the administration needs
and the security requirements. The design of 3-D virtual environments should follow
these guidelines.

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Fig.3 – State diagram of a possible 3-D password application

1. Real-life similarity: The prospective 3-D virtual environment should reflect

what people are used to seeing in real life. Objects used in virtual environments
should be relatively similar in size to real objects (sized to scale). Possible
actions and interactions toward virtual objects should reflect real-life situations.
Object responses should be realistic. The target should have a 3-D virtual
environment that users can interact with, by using common sense.

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2. Object uniqueness and distinction: Every virtual object or item in the 3-D virtual

environment is different from any other virtual object. The uniqueness comes
from the fact that every virtual object has its own attributes such as position.
Thus, the prospective interaction with object 1 is not equal to the interaction
with object 2. However, having similar objects such as 20 computers in one place
might confuse the user. Therefore, the design of the 3-D virtual environment
should consider that every object should be distinguishable from other objects. A
simple real-life example is home numbering. Assume that there are 20 or more
homes that look like each other and the homes are not numbered. It would be
difficult to distinguish which house was visited a month ago. Similarly, in
designing a 3-D virtual environment, it should be easy for users to navigate
through and to distinguish between objects. The distinguishing factor increases
the user’s recognition of objects. Therefore, it improves the system usability.

3. Three-dimensional virtual environment size: A 3-D virtual environment can

depict a city or even the world. On the other hand, it can depict a space as focused
as a single room or office. The size of a 3-D environment should be carefully
studied. A large 3-D virtual environment will increase the time required by the
user to perform a 3-D password. Moreover, a large 3-D virtual environment can
contain a large number of virtual objects. Therefore, the probable 3-D password
space broadens. However, a small 3-D virtual environment usually contains only
a few objects, and thus, performing a 3-D password will take less time.

4. Number of objects (items) and their types: Part of designing a 3-D virtual

environment is determining the types of objects and how many objects should be
placed in the environment. The types of objects reflect what kind of responses the
object will have.

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5. For simplicity, we can consider requesting a textual password or a fingerprint as

an object response type. Selecting the right object response types and the
number of objects affects the probable password space of a 3-D password.

6. System importance: The 3-D virtual environment should consider what systems

will be protected by a 3-D password. The number of objects and the types of
objects that have been used in the 3-D virtual environment should reflect the
importance of the protected system.

3.D Password Applications

Because a 3-D password can have a password space that is very large compared to other
authentication schemes, the 3-D password’s main application domains are protecting
critical systems and resources. Possible critical applications include the following.

1. Critical servers: Many large organizations have critical servers that are usually

protected by a textual password. A 3-D password authentication proposes a sound

replacement for a textual password. Moreover, entrances to such locations are
usually protected by access cards and sometimes PIN numbers. Therefore, a 3-
D password can be used to protect the entrance to such locations and protect the
usage of such servers.

2. Nuclear and military facilities: Such facilities should be protected by the

most powerful authentication systems. The 3-D password has a very large
probable password space, and since it can contain token-, biometrics-,
recognition-, and knowledge-based authentications in a single authentication
system, it is a sound choice for high level security locations.

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3. Airplanes and jetfighters: Because of the possible threat of misusing airplanes

and jetfighters for religion-political agendas, usage of such airplanes should

be protected by a powerful authentication system. The 3-D password is
recommended for these systems.

In addition, 3-D passwords can be used in less critical systems because the 3-D
virtual environment can be designed to fit any system’s needs. A small 3-D virtual
environment can be used in many systems, including the following:

1. ATMs;

2. Personal digital assistants;

3. Desktop computers and laptop logins;

4. Web authentication.

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5.SECURITY ANALYSIS

To analyse and study how secure a system is, we have to consider how hard it is for the
attacker to break such a system. A possible measurement is based on the information
content of a password space, which is defined in [13]
as “the entropy of the probability
distribution over that space given by the relative frequencies of the passwords that
users actually choose.” We have seen that textual password space may be relatively
large; however, an attacker might only need a small subset of the full password space
as Klein [2] observed to successfully break such an authentication system. As a result, it
is important to have a scheme that has a very large possible password space as one factor
for increasing the work required by the attacker to break the authentication system.
Another factor is to find a scheme that has no previous or existing knowledge of
the most probable user password selection, which can also resist the attack on such an
authentication scheme.

Fig.4 – Password space of the 3-D password application, textual password, Passfaces, and DAS

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3-D Password Shape and Size

One important factor to determine how difficult it is to launch an attack on an
authentication system is the size of the password space. To determine the 3-D password
space, we have to count all possible 3-D passwords that have a certain number of
actions, interactions, and inputs toward all objects that exist in the 3-D virtual
environment. We assume that the length of the 3-D password is Lmax, and the
probability of the 3-D password of size greater than Lmax is zero.

To measure the 3-D password space, we will calculate Π (L max, G) on a 3-D virtual
environment that has the space (G x G x G) for a 3-D password of a length (number of
actions, interactions, and inputs) of Lmax or less.

In the following expression, AC represents the possible actions toward the 3-D
virtual environment, whereas Π represents the total numbers of possible 3-D passwords
of length Lmax or less:

In the following expression (2), Omax is the number of objects in the 3-D
virtual environment:

Where xi = xj, yi = yj, and zi = zj, only if i = j. The design of the 3-D environment will
determine the value of Omax. The variable m represents all possible actions and
interactions toward all existing objects Oi. However, g(AC) counts the total number
of actions and inputs toward the 3- D virtual environment, whereas m, as we mentioned
before, counts the actions and interactions toward the objects.

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An example of g(AC) can be a user movement pattern, which can be considered as a part
of the user’s 3-D password.
The function is the number of possible actions and interactions toward the object Oi based
on the object type Ti. Object types can be textual password objects, DAS objects, or
any authentication scheme.

The function f is determined from the object type. It counts the possible actions and
interactions that the object can accept. If we assume that an object “Keyboard” is in
location (x0, y0, z0) of type = textual password, f will count the possible characters and
numbers that can be typed, which is around 93 possibilities. As we mentioned before,
an object type is one of the important factors that affects the overall password space.
Therefore, higher outcomes of function f mean larger 3- Dpassword space size.

Fig.5 - Password space of the 3-D password, textual password, Passfaces, and DAS with grid
sizes of 5 × 5 and 10 × 10. Length is the number of actions and interactions for a 3-D password,
the number of characters for textual passwords, the number of selections for Passfaces, and the
number of points that represent the strokes for DAS. The length is up to eight (characters/actions,
interactions, inputs/selections).

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Fig.6 - observing the number of possible actions/interactions of a 3-D password within a 3-D
environment specified in Section V-A compared to the two critical points of textual passwords.

Point “a” is the bit size of Klein [2] (3 × 106) dictionary of eight-character textual passwords. Point
“b” represents the full password space of eight-character textual passwords.

Fig. 6 shows the points where the 3-D password exceeds two important textual password
points. Point “a” shows that by having only two actions and interactions as a 3-D
password, the 3-D password exceeds the number of textual passwords used by Klein [2]
to break 25% of textual passwords of eight characters. Point “b” represents the full textual
password space of eight characters or less. It shows that by performing only four
interactions, actions, and inputs as a 3-D password, the 3-D password space exceeds the
full textual passwords of eight characters or less.

From the previous equations, we observe that the number of objects and the type
of actions and interactions determines the probable password space. Therefore, the
design of the 3-D virtual environment is a very critical part of the 3-D password
system. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the resulting password space of the proposed 3-D
password compared to textual password, Passfaces, and DAS of a grid of 5 x 5 and
10 x 10, respectively. Notice the difference between a 3-D passwords built on a
simple 3-D virtual environment compared to the other authentication schemes.

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3d Password Distribution Knowledge

Studying the user’s behavior of password selection and knowing the most probable
[2]
textual passwords are the key behind dictionary attacks. Klein used such
knowledge to collect a small set of 3 x 106 words that have a high probability of
usage among users. The question is how has such information (highly probable
passwords) been found and why. Users tend to choose words that have meaning,
such as places, names, famous people’s names, sports terms, and biological
terminologies. Therefore, finding these different words from the dictionary is a relatively
simple task. Using such knowledge yields a high success rate for breaking textual
passwords. Any authentication scheme is affected by the knowledge distribution of the
user’s secrets. According to Davis et al. [9]
, Passfaces [8]
users tend to choose faces
that reflect their own taste on facial attractiveness, race, and gender.

Moreover, 10% of male passwords have been guessed in only two guesses. Another
study [14] about user selection of DAS [13]
concluded that for their secret
passwords, users tend to draw things that have Meaning, which simplifies the
attacker’s task.

Currently, knowledge about user behaviors on selecting their 3-D password does not
exist. Every user has different requirements and preferences when selecting the
appropriate 3-D password. This fact will increase the effort required to find a pattern
of user’s highly selected 3- D password. In addition, since the 3-D password combines
several authentication schemes into a single authentication environment, the attacker has
to study every single authentication scheme and has to discover what the most probable
selected secrets are. For textual password, the highly probable selected textual password
might be determined by the use of dictionaries. However, there are many authentication
schemes with undiscovered probable password space.

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Since every 3-D password system can be designed according to the protected system
requirements, the attacker has to separately study every 3-D password system. This is
because objects that exist in one 3-D password system might not exist on other 3-D
password systems. Therefore, more effort is required to build the knowledge of most
probable 3-D passwords.

Attacks and Countermeasures

To realize and understand how far an authentication scheme is secure, we have to
consider all possible attack methods. We have to study whether the authentication
scheme proposed is immune against such attacks or not. Moreover, if the proposed
authentication scheme is not immune, we then have to find the countermeasures that
prevent such attacks. In this section, we try to cover most possible attacks and
whether the attack is valid or not. Moreover, we try to propose countermeasures for
such attacks.

1. Brute Force Attack: The attacker has to try all possible 3-D passwords. This kind
of attack is very difficult for the following reasons.

a. Time required to login: The total time needed for a legitimate user to login

may vary from 20 s to 2 min or more, depending on the number of

interactions and actions, the size of the 3-D virtual environment, and the
type of actions and interactions done by the user as a 3-D password.
Therefore, a brute force attack on a 3-D password is very difficult and time
consuming.

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b. Cost of attacks: In a 3-D virtual environment that contains biometric

recognition objects and token-based objects, the attacker has to forge all
possible biometric information and forge all the required tokens. The cost
of forging such information is very high; therefore, cracking the 3-D
password is more challenging. Moreover, the high number of possible 3-
D password spaces (as shown in Table I) leaves the attacker with almost
no chance of breaking the 3-D password.

2. Well-Studied Attack: The attacker tries to find the highest probable distribution of
3-D passwords. However, to launch such an attack, the attacker has to acquire
knowledge of the most probable 3-D password distributions. Acquiring such
knowledge is very difficult because the attacker has to study all the existing
authentication schemes that are used in the 3- D environment. Moreover,
acquiring such knowledge may require forging all existing biometrical data and
may require forging token-based data. In addition, it requires a study of the
user’s selection of objects, or a combination of objects, that the user will use
as a 3-D password. Moreover, a well-studied attack is very hard to accomplish
since the attacker has to perform a customized attack for every different 3-D
virtual environment design. Every system can be protected by a 3-D password
that is based on a unique 3-D virtual environment. This environment has a
number of objects and types of object responses that differ from any other 3-D
virtual environment. Therefore, a carefully customized study is required to
initialize an effective attack.

3. Shoulder Surfing Attack: An attacker uses a camera to record the user’s 3-D
password or tries to watch the legitimate user while the 3-D password is being
performed. This attack is the most successful type of attack against 3-D
passwords and some other graphical passwords.

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However, the user’s 3-D password may contain biometrical data or textual
passwords that cannot be seen from behind. The attacker may be required to
take additional measures to break the legitimate user’s 3-D password. Therefore,
we assume that the 3-D password should be performed in a secure place where a
shoulder surfing attack cannot be performed.

4. Timing Attack: In this attack, the attacker observes how long it takes the
legitimate user to perform a correct sign-in using the 3-D password. This
observation gives the attacker an indication of the legitimate user’s 3-D
password length. However, this kind of attack alone cannot be very successful
since it gives the attacker mere hints. Therefore, it would probably be launched
as part of a well-studied or brute force attack. Timing attacks can be very
effective if the 3-D virtual environment is poorly designed.

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6.EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

We have built an experimental 3-D virtual environment that contains several objects
of two types. The first type of response is the textual password. The second type of
response is requesting graphical passwords. Almost 30 users volunteered to experiment
with the environment. We asked the users to create their 3-D password and to sign-in
using their 3-D password several times over several days.

Experimental Virtual 3-D Environment

In our experiment, we have used Java Open GL to build the 3-D virtual environment
and we have used a 1.80-GHz Pentium M Centrino machine with 512-MB random
access memory and ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 video card.

Fig.7 - Table 1 - Resulting number of possible 3-d passwords of total length Lmax

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User-Study

We conducted a user study on 3-D passwords using the experimental 3-D virtual
environments. The study reviewed the usage of textual passwords and other
authentication schemes. The study covered almost 30 users. The users varied in age,
sex, and education level. Even though it is a
[13]
small set of users, the study produced some distinct results . We observed the
following regarding textual passwords, 3-D passwords, and other authentication
schemes.

1. Most users who use textual passwords of 9–12 character lengths or who use

random characters as a password have only one to three unique passwords.

2. More than 50% of user’s textual passwords are eight characters or less.

3. Almost 25% of users use meaningful words as their textual passwords.

4. Almost 75% of users use meaningful words or partially meaningful words as

their textual passwords. In contrast, only 25% of users use random characters
and letters as textual passwords.
5. Over 40% of users have only one to three unique textual passwords, and over

90% of users have eight unique textual passwords or less.

6. Over 90% of users do not change their textual passwords unless they are

required to by the system.

7. Over 95% of users under study have never used any graphical password scheme

as a means of authentication.
8. Most users feel that 3-D passwords have a high acceptability.

9. Most users believe that there is no threat to personal privacy by using a 3-D

password as an authentication scheme.

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7.LITERATURE REVIEW

• http://www.ieeexplore.ieee.org: An IEEE paper published in 2008 was the basic

information source.

• http://www.youtube.com: Meticulous details about the 3D passwords and 3D

virtual environment were the result of various videos available on YouTube.

• http://www.3dvas.com: VAS is a network of 3D virtual Galleries for

displaying art on the internet. Any artist interested in mounting an exhibition can
do so in a simple, user friendly way. All you have to do is open an account (for
free), choose an appropriate 3D gallery and upload your artworks. Once you've
done that, anyone can visit your exhibition. Every visitor is represented by a 3D
character, allowing everyone to see and be seen in the 3d gallery space in real-
time.

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8.CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

There are many authentication schemes in the current state. Some of them are
based on user’s physical and behavioral properties, and some other authentication
schemes are based on user’s knowledge such as textual and graphical passwords.
Moreover, there are some other important authentication schemes that are based on
what you have, such as smart cards. Among the various authentication schemes,
textual password and token-based schemes, or the combination of both, are commonly
applied. However, as mentioned before, both authentication schemes are vulnerable to
certain attacks. Moreover, there are many authentication schemes that are currently
under study and they may require additional time and effort to be applicable for
commercial use.

The 3-D password is a multifactor authentication scheme that combines these various
authentication schemes into a single 3-D virtual environment. The virtual
environment can contain any existing authentication scheme or even any upcoming
authentication schemes by adding it as a response to actions performed on an object.
Therefore, the resulted password space becomes very large compared to any existing
authentication schemes.

The design of the 3-D virtual environment, the selections of objects inside the
environment, and the object’s type reflect the resulted password space. It is the task
of the system administrator to design the environment and to select the appropriate
object that reflects the protected system requirements. Additionally, designing a simple
and easy to use 3-D virtual environment is a factor that leads to a higher user
acceptability of a 3-D password system.

The choice of what authentication schemes will be part of the user’s 3-D password
reflects the user’s preferences and requirements.

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A user who prefers to remember and recall a password might choose textual and
graphical passwords as part of their 3-D password. On the other hand, users who
have more difficulty with memory or recall might prefer to choose smart cards or
biometrics as part of their 3-D password. Moreover, users who prefer to keep any kind
of biometrical data private might not interact with objects that require biometric
information. Therefore, it is the user’s choice and decision to construct the desired and
preferred 3-D password.

The 3-D password is still in its early stages. Designing various kinds of 3-D virtual
environments, deciding on password spaces, and interpreting user feedback and
experiences from such environments will result in enhancing and improving the
user experience of the 3-D password.
Moreover, gathering attackers from different backgrounds to break the system is one of
the future works that will lead to system improvement and prove the complexity of
breaking a 3-D password. Moreover, it will demonstrate how the attackers will acquire
the knowledge of the most probable 3-D passwords to launch their attacks.

Shoulder surfing attacks are still possible and effective against 3-D passwords.
Therefore, a proper solution is a field of research.

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9.REFERENCES
[1] X. Suo, Y. Zhu, and G. S. Owen, “Graphical passwords: A survey,” in Proc. 21st
Annu. Comput. Security Appl. Conf., Dec. 5–9, 2005, pp. 463–472.
[2] D. V. Klein, “Foiling the cracker: A survey of, and improvement to passwords

security,” in Proc. USENIX Security Workshop, 1990, pp. 5–14. Authorized

licensed use limited to: IEEE Xplore. downloaded on March 5, 2009 at 02:38
from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply. 1938 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
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NBC news, ATM Fraud: Banking on Your Money, Dateline Hidden Cameras Show
Criminals Owning ATMs, Dec. 11, 2003.
[3] T. Kitten, Keeping an Eye on the ATM. (2005, Jul. 11). [Online] Available:

ATMMarketPlace.com

BBC news, Cash Machine Fraud up, Say Banks, Nov. 4, 2006.

[4] G. E. Blonder, “Graphical password,” U.S. Patent 5 559 961, Sep. 24, 1996.

[5] R. Dhamija and A. Perrig, “Déjà Vu: A user study using images for
authentication,” in Proc. 9th USINEX Security Symp., Denver, CO, Aug. 2000,
pp. 45–58.
[6] Real User Corporation, The Science Behind Passfaces. (2005, Oct.).

[Online]. Available: http://www.realusers.com

[7] D. Davis, F. Monrose, and M. K. Reiter, “On user choice in graphical password
schemes,” in
[8] Proc. 13th USENIX Security Symp., San Diego, CA, Aug. 2004, pp. 1–14.
[9] S. Wiedenbeck, J. Waters, J.-C. Birget, A. Brodskiy, and N. Memon,
“Authentication using graphical passwords: Basic results,” in Proc. Human-
Comput. Interaction Int., Las Vegas, NV, Jul. 25–27, 2005.

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THE END

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