User Access of Public Shared Devices in Pervasive Computing Environments

Abstract

To allow for an efficient usage of a device in pervasive computing environments when a user intends to selectively utilize multiple devices within his/her vicinity, reliable and yet convenient authentication is an important requirement. The problem becomes more complex when the accessed device is shared by the public with many different individuals. This paper first illustrates the issues of establishing sessions to such devices (logging in, maintaining a session, and logging out), and then identifies the common pitfall of access-control contexts. We propose an improved context-aware solution that supports a secure, selective, and identifiable user access of public shared devices with high usability.