Google is on a straight path to making mobile passwords a thing of the past. The company is planning on replacing pin codes and passwords with more trustworthy applications, involving facial recognition and other tests, in order to improve the security of mobile devices.
Google announced last week, at the company's I/O developer conference, that it will start conducting tests for Trust API, an application program interface . Trust API is the technology that will make passwords obsolete. WTVR explains that the new technology utilizes the multiple sensors in smartphones to determine if the user is the owner of the device.
With Trust API, mobile phones can recognize the owner's face and voice. Moreover, the software can detect the mobile owner's way of walking, typing speed and goes as far as recognizing familiar Wi-Fi hotspots and Bluetooth devices.
Beta News elaborates that mobile owners must gain a certain number of trust points in order to gain access to their device. Theoretically, Trust API is supposed to use the data the sensors collected to determine if the user is the owner of the device.
According to Top Tech News, Google is calling Trust API "Project Abacus." Dan Kaufman, Director of Advanced Technology and Projects at Google, stated that if the tests go well, the software could be available to Android developers worldwide by the end of the year.
Project Abacus is Deepak Chandra's brain child. Chandra worked at Google as the head of mobile authentication. He believes that mobile devices should have more security due to the amount of personal information people place in their phones these days, like bank account information.
"In today's world, mobile devices are being used not only for verbal communication but also for accessing bank accounts and performing transactions, managing user profiles, accessing e-mail accounts, etc.," said Chandra. "With increasing usage, there is a growing concern about ensuring the security of users' personal information on these devices."
