"Here's how it works: Like with most Web sites, a user will type in his or her username. But instead of entering a password, he or she then will be shown the first of five grids of photographed faces. Somewhere within each grid of nine faces, in a different place each time, there will be a face that the user recognizes as one of his or her prememorized 'passfaces.' Click on the recognized face, successfully repeat the process for the next four grids, and the user then gets logged in."
—Michael P. Bruno, "Real User Launching 'Real' Security Monday," Newsbytes, January 26, 2001

Unlike standard passwords, which require a user to recall specific combinations of letters, numbers and symbols, the Passface system relies on fundamental principles of cognitive Psychology to harness the human brain's natural ability to remember and recognize faces.

To establish a personal set of passfaces, the user chooses four passfaces from a library of anonymous photographs.
—"ID Arts Introduces User Authentication System Based on Cognitive Psychology," PR Newswire, January 19, 1999