RouteMap: A route and map based graphical password scheme for better multiple password memory

Abstract

Graphical passwords (GPs) are considered as one promising solution to replace traditional text-based passwords. Many GP schemes have been proposed in the literature such as PassPoints, DAS, Cued Click Points, GeoPass and so on. These schemes reported promising performance in their studies in the aspects of security and usability, however, we notice that these GP schemes may suffer from the issue of multiple password memory. In our first user study, it is identified that this issue has indeed become a big challenge. In real-world applications, users usually have to remember and maintain more than one password in different scenarios, thus, it is very essential to develop a better GP scheme to solve this issue. In this paper, we focus on map-based GPs and propose a scheme of RouteMap for better multiple password memory, which allows users to draw a route on a map as their secrets. In our second user study with 60 participants, it is found that users can achieve better performance using RouteMap in terms of multiple password memory, as compared with two similar schemes. Our effort attempts to complement existing studies and stimulate more research on this issue.