Google launches attack on passwords - but are they too late?

Passwords have long been the bane of technological existence, and Google believes that their new Project Abacus will allow Android users to be recognised by their movements and usage patterns, including the way they type, and even facial recognition.

There's one problem however. The technology known as behavioural biometrics is already being used by millions of Scandinavians to enter their online bank accounts.

The technology known as behavioural biometrics is already being used by millions of Scandinavians to enter their online bank accounts.

Banks in Sweden, Denmark and Norway have been making use of a system known as BankID. 6.5 million users are currently active in Sweden and over three quarters of Norway's adult population are signed up to the service, according to GMSA personal data findings.

Abacus is currently being developed by Google's Advanced Technology and Projects Unit and it is believed to be set up by the end of the year.

If there is consistency in how fast a user types or the angle at which they swipe their touchscreens, the the technology will use that to build up a profile of the customer, so as to avoid the constant necessity for keying passwords.

Neal Costigan, of Swedish based firm BehavioSec, believes that "most people don't mind a challenge, but you don't want it all the time".

The usage of passwords has long been thought to be problematic in technological terms for reasons of security breaches.

BehavioSec ran a trial with Denmark's biggest bank, DanskeBank, involving 18,000 users and 50,000 transactions. The result of this trial was that it the behavioural biometrics were able to detect fraud in 99% of cases.

Personal Privacy Problems

Sceptics will point towards the implications on personal privacy which have gained plenty of media coverage in recent times. Particularly where people's finances are affected, there are always going to be concerns.

Sceptics will point towards the implications on personal privacy

"We're talking about swiping across a screen, it's not about the things that you are typing," defends Costigan, speaking with Forbes.

BehavioSec are not the only company developing this type of technology. BioCatch and NuData from Israel and Canada respectively are competing against them, but BehavioSec are gaining ground, particularly after a recent partnership with Telesign, a security firm which provides service to the likes of Tinder and Salesforce.

Android smartphones are in the hands of around 1.4 billion users currently, so Project Abacus could still allow Google to wrestle the mainstream technology from the Scandinavian banks that are using it on a smaller scale at the moment.