Authors : Musa Ibrahim Kamba; Anas Shehu; Zauwali Sabitu Paki

Volume/Issue : Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 3 - March

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/bp6yvbak

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/mtj8a969

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/25mar041

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : The research evaluates the usability and security of different Android patterns across 3x3, 3x4, and 4x4 grids on smartphone authentication mechanisms. Through an experiment with 90 volunteers using a specially created Android application, this study examines the security and usability of the Android pattern lock system. The results show that roughly 70% of participants authenticated on their first try, while only 13% failed to authenticate on their first, second, and third try, indicating that they failed to remember their pattern supply during the experiment, although the Android pattern lock is generally user-friendly, there are significant security concerns, as indicated by the failure rate. The findings advocate for the adoption of larger grid sizes to mitigate brute force and guess-based attacks while maintaining acceptable usability levels.

Keywords : Usability, Security, Pattern Lock, Smudge Attack, Observation Attack.

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