On the Design of Distributed Adaptive Authentication Systems

Adaptive authentication allows a system to dynamically select the best mechanism for authenticating a user depending on contextual factors, such as location, proximity to devices, and other attributes. Current systems in the literature are built to demonstrate feasibility and basic usability improvements in specific scenarios, but none of them follows a methodological approach for system design, neglecting the huge body of research on adaptation. In this position paper, we posit the necessity to apply such a structured modelling procedure and show its potential benefits to achieve better and more usable designs. We discuss the modelling steps to be followed, identify key challenges to be addressed, and present an initial reference architecture for adaptive distributed authentication.