Patent US 6,246,769

A system that eliminates the use and recall of multiple dedicated access codes to verify an authorized user across multiple protected resources. Fixed access codes selected by a user, or issued to a user, such as Personal Identification Numbers (PINs), passwords and passcodes are replaced by temporary codes that are valid only for the specific transaction in progress. A temporary code is randomly selected by the system and displayed to the user encoded within a completely filled geometric matrix along with other non-code characters. The user must recall a single, predetermined sequential pattern within said matrix in order to obtain the access code. Once the code is obtained, or decoded from the matrix, the user must enter that code into the system. If the entered code matches the transaction specific code in system memory, access to the protected resource is granted and the transaction is allowed to proceed.