1.1 Introduction
Authentication is unavoidable in any environment where sensitive information is utilized. In accessing resources via the Internet, the most common means of identification required for authentication is the user’s identity and a secret passphrase known as a password. Studies have shown that the birth of graphical password which uses images/pictures/objects was out of the trivial password generated by users because of the inability to remember complex passwords when using text-based password. Graphical password is stronger and increases memorability. However, graphical-based password is faced with several challenges including, a high storage capacity for all the images/pictures/objects, no assistance for users in browsing through an array of images/pictures/objects and vulnerability to shoulder surfing attacks.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The traditional and most common authentication method employs usernames and passwords composed of alphanumeric text. This method has proven to be insecure in practice (Suo et al., 2005). For example, users may choose easily guessed passwords or, if a password is hard to guess, users may find it too difficult to remember leading to increased support issues, users writing down their passwords where they can be easily found (Hu, 2002) or users using the same password for multiple sites. The human factor is the weakest link in security (Qazi, 2004) and authentication is one of the critical points where humans play an active role in security. Therefore we need substitutes or supplements for traditional authentication methods to have more secure and reliable authentication. Recently several new methods for authentication such as token-based authentication, biometric-based and graphical authentication have been developed (Suo et al., 2005). All of these can be used together with conventional usernames and passwords.
Authentication is the primary gatekeeper for computer systems. It both verifies authorized users of a system and distinguishes between different users. Halting and detecting intruders is only possible with a strong authentication mechanism and efficient access control. However, users dislike inconvenient authorization methods and may compromise them to make their lives easier.
The most commonly used approaches to authentication are knowledge-based techniques which include text and picture-based passwords (Qazi, 2004). Since it is easier for humans to remember pictures than text, graphical authentication schemes have been proposed as an alternative to text-based schemes (Hu, 2002). With graphical authentication there is no need to remember long sequences of characters. Instead, a user can pass the authentication step by recognizing or recreating the graphical password. When the number of pictures is large enough graphical authentications may be superior to text-based methods (Suo et al., 2005).
This work develops a graphical authentication for web based application that tackles the aforementioned issues by using cued recall technique which utilizes a grid system populated with pair of values and set of colored rows and columns. A shoulder surfing resistant interface was designed to assist users in generating a robust password. To improve the security of the system, One Time Password (OTP) was used. The technologies and tools used were Apache web server, MySQL database management system, PHP Hypertext Pre-processor (PHP) all running on the WAMP platform, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), cascading style sheet (CSS) and JavaScript.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Security practitioners and researchers have made studies in protecting systems, individual users and digital assets. The password problem arises largely from limitations of human’s long-term memory (LTM). Once a password has been chosen and learned the user must be able to recall it to log in. But, people regularly forget their passwords. Graphical passwords introduce us to a whole new form of authentication. The most common form of authentication used today is the used of alphanumeric texts and this form of authentication has been proven to be prone to several forms of attacks. Since it is easier to remember pictures than text, graphical passwords tend to enhance security and at the same time make it easier for the user to use and access data.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The main aim of the study is to Design and Implement a Secured Graphical Authentication for Web Based Application software that will be used to design graphics such as; pictures of different format such as: jepg, and png. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To develop a software that will request for the system user authentication details before accessing the graphics software,
- To design a database that will store or save graphics works for retrieval purpose, and
- To develop a software that will encrypt user authentication input details.
1.5 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
Finally, this research work will be of immense importance to the researchers, since it is a practical requirement for the award of Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Science Technology of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.
1.6 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the design and implementation of Secured Graphical Authentication for Web Based Applications.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.8 Definition of Terms
Secured: Secured means that it has been made secure at some point in the past, but may no longer be secure in the present. Whereas secure describes the state of the garage currently, which is more relevant for the parker?
Graphical representation: refers to the use of charts and graphs to visually display, analyze, clarify, and interpret numerical data, functions, and other qualitative structures.
Authentication: Authentication is the process of determining whether someone or something is, in fact, who or what it says it is.
Web Based Applications: A web-based application is any program that is accessed over a network connection using HTTP, rather than existing within a device's memory. Web-based applications often run inside a web browser.
