Evaluation of Keystroke Dynamics Authentication Systems: Analysis of Physical and Touch Screen Keyboards

Keystroke Dynamics Information

Keystroke dynamics technology is used to discriminate individuals based on their way of typing a text (such as a password). An ideal authentication system should respect the following properties:

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  Universality: All individuals must be characterized by this information.

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  Uniqueness: This information must be as dissimilar as possible for two different individuals.

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  Permanency: It should be present during the whole life span of an individual.

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  Collectability: It can be measured in an easy manner.

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  Acceptability: It concerns the possibility of a real use by users.

Table 1 presents a comparison study of biometric modalities in terms of universality, uniqueness, permanency, collectability and acceptability. From this table, we can deduce that no biometric information satisfies simultaneously all these properties. As for keystroke dynamics, it provides a good performance. However, the users’ typing behavior changes with mood and time thus permanency is not guaranteed.