The New Scientist has uncovered a new patent from Apple that stores password recovery secrets into peripheral devices , including a power adapter. The patent aims to stop thieves of laptops, iPads and iPhones gaining unauthorised access to the portable computing devices.
The application would prompt you to plug in your specific power adapter to confirm your identity. The memory chip on your power charger could store your password secret - for instance, an encrypted version of your password reminder hint. If you've forgotten your password you could just plug your laptop into the wall, to receive the secret password hint.
The password hint can be stored in other peripheral devices such as printer, an external monitor or a wireless router.
The application would prompt you to plug in your specific power adapter to confirm your identity. The memory chip on your power charger could store your password secret - for instance, an encrypted version of your password reminder hint. If you've forgotten your password you could just plug your laptop into the wall, to receive the secret password hint.
The password hint can be stored in other peripheral devices such as printer, an external monitor or a wireless router.
 |
| plugin for retrieving password |
New Scientist said in their Blog:
The technology is predicated on the fact that when you lose a laptop, or have it stolen, you don't tend to lose the power adapter as well. So it makes the power adapter a critical part of the recovery routine for forgotten passwords.
In US patent filing 2012/0005747 Apple proposes a power adapter whose transformer unit has a small memory module built into it. This stores either an encrypted password (or recovery question) whose key is stored on the laptop or smartphone. This way only the correct computer or phone can access the recovery data. For added security, part of the encrypted password could reside on a network server, too.
There's a clear need for this, says Apple: "If the password is not easily and conveniently recoverable, the consumer is likely to choose either not to use a password at all or to use a trivial password. Both choices increase the threat of data loss," it says in the patent.
Of course, once the bad guys know the adapter is important, they'll steal that too if it's available - but Apple suggests further security can be added by storing some of the password recovery data in other (not generally mobile) peripherals, like printers and Wi-Fi routers, too.
The full patent application can be found here:
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat20120005747.pdf
