Can Whistling Unique Songs Replace Passwords?

By Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

MALMÖ, SWEDEN – Music Hack Days aren’t just about music; in at least one case, they are about securely logging into websites and services by whistling your own unique song.

Created by Johan Brissmyr and his partner, whose name we did not catch, at Music Hack Day Malmö, Careless Whistle really works — at least it succeeded in both attempts during its demonstration earlier this weekend.

“We are very into solving different issues with authenticating users — especially for musicians,” said Brissmyr. “They might have a hard time remembering passwords… so we wanted to come up with a new method of logging in.

Brissmyr warned that the system could become compromised if someone hears your whistle, because it’s looking for certain notes, which others can duplicate. Still, the concept of whistling to activate things hands-free is sort of neat, even if it’s less secure than, say, using a fingerprint to unlock an iPhone 5s.

“If someone stands beside you and accidentally hears your whistle, they can log in with your account — it’s very convenient, very secure,” joked Brissmyr.

The demonstration doesn’t seem to work — presumably, because I don’t remember either of its creators’ whistles.