Beware, camera, microphone can reveal your smartphone PIN LONDON: A smartphones PIN can be revealed by its camera and microphone, researchers have warned. Using a programme called PIN Skimmer a team from the University of Cambridge found that codes entered on a number, only soft keypad, could be identified. According to the BBC, the software watches your face via the camera and listens to clicks through the microphone as you type. The tests were carried out on the Google Nexus-S and the Galaxy S3 smartphones. The reports authors Prof Ross Anderson and Laurent Simon said that they demonstrated that the camera can be used maliciously. The research found that the microphone is used to detect touch-events as a user enters their PIN. In effect, it can hear the clicks that the phone makes as a user presses the virtual number keys, the report said. When the authors tried to work out four-digit PINs the programme was successful more than 50% of the time after five attempts. With eight-digit PINs the success rate was 60% after 10 attempts. The researchers said that to prevent a PIN being identified is to use a longer number. But the complete way to get rid of passwords altogether and using fingerprints or face recognition are offered as more drastic solutions, the report added.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 00:19:28 +0000
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