The Problem
Existing security and authentication techniques are riddled with oversights and compromises. They suffer tradeoffs for usability (at the expense of security) or tradeoffs for security (at the expense of usability).
The Risks of Traditional Methods
Theft: Passwords can be stolen, accidentally revealed, or forgotten. Theft occurs via spyware (Key Loggers), Screen Recorders, Log-In Session Videotaping, and other eavesdropping methods.
Surveillance: Widely available micro audio and visual sensors facilitate hidden observation. Video and/or audio-recording is possible from a significant distance, jeopardizing secrets entered at public locations (ATMs, POS terminals, internet cafés).
Brute-Force: Password detection can be done even by brute-force attacks (Dictionary attacks) applied to hashed passwords or directly at entry devices, allowing for easy password re-engineering.
Human Factor: Strong passwords are hard to remember, leading users to write them down, defeating the purpose.
One-Time Passwords (OTP): While stronger, OTPs are vulnerable to phishing and Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, require a device, and involve difficult, time-consuming integration with existing systems.
Security Keys: They inconvenience the user (must carry a physical device, periodic renewal) and are vulnerable to security breaches due to improper storage or when control software is active.
Biometrics: Highly expensive and difficult to deploy. Data cannot be replaced once stolen. They are unreliable and encourage physical coercion dangers. Significant public reluctance and legal restrictions exist due to privacy concerns.
The Solution: Protecto
The protection offered by Protecto is achieved by combining secret elements with decoys (misleading manipulations) and implicit rules defined by logic models.
How Protecto Achieves Unbreakable Security:
Dynamic Input: Unlike widespread methods where secret elements are used directly, Protecto places this information in dynamic selection fields that contain more than one element. The visible selection (click) often only directs which other fields to mark based on an implicit rule known only to the user.
Keylogger and Surveillance Defense: Protecto significantly limits the possibility of tracking user actions (keyloggers, screen recorders, surveillance) because visible actions do not reveal the secret combination.
High Security & Usability: Protecto allows a password with a higher degree of security to be entered relatively faster and much easier to remember. It doesn't suffer tradeoffs for usability (at the expense of security) or vice versa.
Versatility: The method can be applied on devices not owned by the user, as well as in public places, without a security risk.
Cognitive Ease: Protecto reduces the cognitive load for users, helps them to make fewer mistakes, and gives them a more pleasant experience.
Anti-Eavesdropping: The different combination of elements in the selection fields in each session protects the user from eavesdropping, especially when they do not mark the fields where their secret elements are located, but other fields indicated by a secret principle (algebraic, geometric, associative, etc.).
Dynamic Position: Unlike methods with a static PIN, in Protecto the position and/or the number of manipulations changes, which increases security many times over.