Microsoft to Introduce Picture Login with Windows 8

Despite the fact that securing your PC with a password is an easy way to at least try to keep your digital goods safe, many people find typing one in on each boot to be a hassle – and to be honest, so do I. But the fact remains, having no password at all is as effective in securing your data as leaving your house door unlocked while you are away.

It might not be possible to have a hassle-free password system that’s also mega-secure, but Microsoft is unveiling a new password system for Windows 8 that blends that line well. It’s called “Picture Password”, and requires you use gestures in order to log into your PC, rather than an alpha password. Obviously, this sounds like something best-suited for tablets, but it’s also suitable if your PC has a touchscreen. In time, that might be more common.

I won’t go into great detail here regarding the algorithm at play, but suffice to say, picture passwords look to be way more secure than alpha passwords in terms of complexity. While there exist 8.9 trillion possible 8 character passwords, there exist 13 quadrillion possible passwords using a “tap” gesture password.

Adding to the complexity, you’ll be able to mix and match different gesture styles to create a password. You could tap one area of a picture while drawing a circle around another and finally draw a line from one point to another. On tablets, this sort of authentication system is far more viable than typing in a complex keyboard. As someone who uses complex passwords for every service, I can attest to it being no fun to enter a password on a mobile phone – even just once.

There are some things to bare in mind with a password system like this, however. The first is that if your gestures are at all complex, then it’s still going to feel like a chore logging into your PC. Second, possibilities exist that someone could “read” the smudges on your screen in order to guess at your gestures. But if it comes down to it where your data is that important for someone to access, chances are you will have other security methods in place.

Either way, I see this system as a great thing, especially on the tablet side of things.