Additional and costly biometrics hardware, and difficult enrollment process are no longer an obstacle for online authentication when using typing biometrics.
1. Existing keyboard is enough
Typing on a keyboard is the most popular and old way for people to interact with machines. It’s used for everyday communication, both personal or business, getting work done, and interacting with favorite apps. The keyboard is already widely adopted and enough to do online authentication, avoiding the need for additional biometric hardware. Also, when used as a way for two-factor authentication, you don’t have to rely on external devices like tokens or smartphones. This eliminates friction and abandon rate.
2. No need for additional browser permissions
Pop-under window requests for privacy in the browser can get people anxious, especially for the laptop/PC based devices. Access to fingerprint reader is even more complicated as they require additional browser plugins installation. In comparison with microphone and camera input, typing doesn’t require special privileges in the browser.
3. Easy user enrollment
One time enrollment of a one tweet-long typing sample is enough to be able to use for authenticating later. Typing biometrics are capable of enrolling and authenticating people based on any text they type, both passively or with a required text box, making it very flexible to use. With a simple JavaScript class, developers are up and running.
4. Low-bandwidth internet
All existing biometrics recognition rely on input collection required for enrollment and authentication. A typing pattern sample required for authentication requires less than 1-kilobyte data transfer(which only reveal statistics about one’s typing pattern, actual keystroke content are not collected). This makes it suitable for any type of internet connection speed. Other biometrics require larger data size which can cause trouble to the user.
