A security-token necklace, ear buds, or eyeglasses developed at U-M could eliminate vulnerabilities in voice authentication—the practice of logging in to a device or service with your voice alone. “Increasingly, voice is being used as a security feature but it actually has huge holes in it,” said Kang Shin, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at U-M. “If a system is using only your voice signature, it can be very dangerous. We believe you have to have a second channel to authenticate the owner of the voice.” The solution that Shin and colleagues developed is called VAuth, and it’s a wearable device that continuously registers speech-induced vibrations on the user’s body and pairs them with the sound of that person’s voice to create a unique and secure signature.
