Picture passwords are here to stay!

Intelligent Environments, a British company has launched an emoji alternative to the traditional four-digit Pin code commonly used for accessing online banking, which would be more secure as there are more potential combinations of the 44 emojis than there are of the numbers 0-9. Digital banks are examining it closely to incorporate in their security system.

Images are easier to remember than numbers according to Memory experts. David Webber, managing director of Intelligent Environments, said the system was designed to appeal to the modern digital age youth15-25-year-olds.his the future of cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity expert Prof Alan Woodward said that the use of patterns and images was already used by some firms as a useful alternative to remembering complex sequences of numbers and letters.

“I think this is an interesting and potentially valuable step forward,” he said.

“If we persist in using passwords, which seem to be here for a while yet, we need to recognise how humans think and make these as easy to remember as possible.

“The combinations and permutations present a would-be hacker with having to run through a number of cycles that is even greater than they do for so-called dictionary attacks.

“Statistically it will be harder to crack – but if you’re presented with a screen of emojis and you can’t be bothered to remember a sequence you’re going to pick the ones in the four corners or the top row – and then you are left with an equally insecure technology.”

However, human behaviour could be a major flaw in the idea.