Washington: Scientists, including one of India-origin, claim to have developed a new 'inkblot' password system that could provide near-unbreakable layer of security against on-line password thefts.

The new password system called GOTCHA developed at the Carnegie Mellon University could secure high-value information such as bank accounts - even if the password leaks as part of a large-scale site breach.

To create a GOTCHA, a user chooses a password and a computer then generates several random, multi-colored inkblots.

The user describes each inkblot with a text phrase. These phrases are then stored in a random order along with the password.

When the user returns to the site and signs in with the password, the inkblots are displayed again along with the list of descriptive phrases; the user then matches each phrase with the appropriate inkblot.

"These are puzzles that are easy for a human to solve, but hard for a computer to solve, even if it has the random bits used to generate the puzzle," said Jeremiah Blocki, who worked on the system along with professor Manuel Blum, and Anupam Datta, associate professor of computer science.

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