Remembering a clunky password could become a thing of the past, according to researchers at Iowa State University.

Morris Chang, an associate professor of engineering, and his team are working on keystroke authentication — a way of identifying you by the way you type and how long you pause between keystrokes. Ultimately, such a technique could block unauthorized users based on their typing patterns from gaining access to an account.

Using biometrics to identify and authenticate users isn’t new — think fingerprint recognition or iris scans. But those are one-time verifications. What makes keystroke authentication more secure is the fact that typing patterns are continuously monitored.

Also, there’s an added layer of security.

“You can steal passwords,” says Chang. “But you can’t steal biometrics.”

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