If this thing catches on without adaption for nonvisual usage, and if
traditional password methodology is completely replaced, it could be a
problem.  Hopefully, alternatives will always be there.

Steve



From: NewsScan [log in to unmask]

MICROSOFT TAKES A CRACK AT PASSWORD TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft researchers are developing new kinds of passwords that will
be
easier for people to remember but harder for hackers to crack. The new
concept focuses on using images, which tend to make more of an
impression
on people than strings of text characters. In a recent demonstration, a
researcher displayed a full screen of different country flags, and then
clicked on a number of points within the images that correspond to
specific
pixels. The series of pixels was then converted into a random number
and
stored in the computer. A user would simply remember where on the
images he
or she had clicked and in what order. "I don't think you can create a
password that is easily memorizable that is 20 characters long," said
Darko
Kirosvski, a cryptography researcher at the software company.
Image-based
password research isn't new, says Bruce Schneier, chief technology
officer
of Counterpane Internet Security. "It's something that the security
community has been working on for over a decade. The basic idea is that
the
brain can remember faces better than it can remember letters and
numbers."
(Reuters 21 Ma
2002)
http://www1.excite.com/home/technology/tech_article/0,2109,220817|techno
logy|03-21-2002::20:20|reuters,00.html


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