Remembering a face is much easier than remembering a complicated password and is much more secure.

Passfaces Corporation offers a unique patented technology that "uses the human brain’s innate cognitive function to recognize and retain faces".

Passfaces for Windows and Passfaces for the Web, replaces or enhances an alpha-numeric password system for granting people access to systems by using a face recognition strategy.

Passfaces works on the scientificly proven pricipal that the brain can recognise a face for months, or even years after the first encounter.

Passfaces users are given a random set of between three or more faces to serve as their "password".  Then they are taken through a familiarisation process which imprints the faces into their mind for easy recollection.

Afterwards, when the Passfaces user attempts to log on to protected systems, whether on the computers or through the website, the users are then presented with a selection of screens containing nine faces where they are required to select their assigned face from each screen.   This strategy can be used in place of the anti-phishing security image and in place of the typical challenge / response questions to provide a multi-layered authentication approach to meet and exceed multi-factor authentication requirements.

Passfaces claim that their imaged-based technology reduces password related help-desk calls, stops lost productivity caused by forgotten passwords, increases authentication security, and reduces overall costs to companies seeking to secure their netowrk.