The Use of Alternative Keyboard Structures to Prevent Shoulder Surfing Attacks in Augmented Reality
[Thesis]
Reed, Eric Tanner
Kreider, Christopher L.
Christopher Newport University
2020
76
M.S.
Christopher Newport University
2020
As Augmented Reality (AR) devices advance in availability and sophistication, adoption has increased in military, medical and educational environments. With these advances in AR technology, security will be an important factor. One vulnerability that has been demonstrated with AR devices is shoulder surfing attacks. As a countermeasure, we explore alternatively structured keyboards that have the same layout as a standard QWERTY keyboard with modifications such as two segments with random locations. We expect that appropriate alternative keyboard structures will significantly decrease an observer's ability to deduce data entered while remaining an easily usable and low-cost option. Several alternative keyboard structures are proposed and tested for usability. We selected the one with the shortest entry time and best perceived ease of use by the user, then test against known shoulder surfing attacks. We find that the alternatively structured keyboard provides increases in security with demonstrated usability