A smartphone can be used to send a secure password through the human body and open
a door with an electronic smart lock.
Credit: Mark Stone/University of Washington
Rather than rely on easy-to-hack Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals, researchers have developed a system that uses the human body to securely transmit passwords.
Computer scientists and electrical engineers have devised a way to relay the signal from a fingerprint scanner or touchpad through the body to a receiving device that is also in contact with the user. These "on-body" transmissions offer a secure option for authentication that does not require a password, the researchers said.
"Let’s say I want to open a door using an electronic smart lock," said study co-lead author Merhdad Hessar, an electrical engineering doctoral student at the University of Washington. "I can touch the doorknob and touch the fingerprint sensor on my phone and transmit my secret credentials through my body to open the door, without leaking that personal information over the air." [Body Odor and Brain Waves: 5 Cool New ID Technologies] https://www.livescience.com/56323-secure-password-transmission-through-your-body.html
