Pattern lock scheme in which users connect 4-9 dots in a 3 × 3 grid is one of the most popular authentication methods on mobile devices. However, numerous research studies show that users choose patterns from a small space which makes them vulnerable to a variety of attacks such as guessing attacks, shoulder-surfing attacks and smudge attacks.In this work, we enhance the existing 3 × 3 interface with a visual indicator mechanism and demonstrate how this slight modification can influence users' pattern choices, thereby improving the security of the pattern lock scheme. We refer to this enhanced interface as TinPal. As users draw their pattern, TinPal highlights the next set of unconnected dots that can be reached from the currently connected dot. We gauge the impact of this highlighting mechanism on users' pattern choices by performing a comparative study of two groups, where one group creates pattern using the existing interface while the other group creates pattern using TinPal. The study results show that participants who used TinPal created more secure patterns than participants who used the existing interface.
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