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Password Packing - more secure ATMs and...

Password Packing is an idea we came up with make the smaller simpler passwords we all find so easy to remember much safer. For example ATM passwords are only 4 digits long which means we can only stop someone from guessing our passwords if they cant get access to a system to try the 10 to the power of 4 possible combinations ie 10000 different numbers.
The general idea is that the terminal works with you to hide your four digit number so that anyone watching or any digital eavesdropping technology is dealing with a number much longer and without nowing which part of the number you type in is actually your password.
For example an ATM could say to you:

  • Please type 376 - you type 376
  • Please type the first digit of your password - you type it
  • Please type 1 - you type 1
  • Please type the next two numbers of your password - you type them
  • Please type 21 - you type 21
  • Please type the last number of your password - you type it
  • Now type 4 - you type 4
The above could be made a lot simpler but typing 376x1xx21x4 makes a hackers life a real headache...
Things can also be a lot simpler too.. the user could select a password pattern for their account and use any number of random numbers between their actual password numbers as long as they are in the right sequence and the ATM could work out which numbers were the password and whichg weren't... we are in the process of making a simulator for this but we'd like to hear what you think so make a comment here. Wed love to hear from you.

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