In what could be a chilling development for smartphone users, apps - or malware - can guess your device's personal identification number (PIN) by quietly using its camera and microphone.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge who developed the pin scimmer app which they said can correctly guess 30 percent of four-digit PINs after two attempts, and more than 50 percent of PINs after five tries.
"The microphone is used to detect touch events, while the camera is used to estimate the smartphone's orientation and correlate it to the position of the digit tapped by the user," researchers Laurent Simon and Ross Anderson said.
Reseachers tried to minimize battery drain, which could alert a user that something unusual is going on.
The researchers also made tweaks to disable the LED that goes on if the camera is being used.
On the other hand, the researchers found longer PINs may be easier to crack because the app can get more information and has a better chance of being more accurate.
"Our work shows it's not enough for your electronic wallet software to grab hold of the screen, the accelerometers and the gyro; you’d better lock down the video camera, and the still camera too while you’re at it. (Our attack can use the still camera in burst mode)
Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk
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