Android Updates: Study Reveals Lock Screen Pattern Can Be Easily Hacked
One of the features that users of Android smartphones really like is its security feature. In fact, there are many options to choose from either using a high security one like passwords, or the medium security yet the one mostly used by smartphone users like the lock screen pattern. But there are studies that suggest that medium level of security can be cracked easily. And this is alarming users.
As Business Insider reports, a research from the University of Lancaster detailed how the researchers only used hidden cameras shooting discreetly to find out the patters used by the owners. From distances of two to nine meters away and with the use of a professional camera the patterns are easily unlocked.
The researchers only used a computer vision algorithm to see what's the exact pattern that the android user has made in the recorded video footage. This method of hacking lock patterns may be shcoking to some but how many attempts will it require for one to successfully unlock those patterns? According to Express, it will be at least five attempts!
It was reported on the site that the researchers then tested the unique patterns they had formulated through the computer vision algorithm which numbered 120 in all. This is the number of patterns they have made based from the footages of 2015 android smartphone users. Even more shocking is the report that says that 95% of these total number of unique patterns formulated by the researchers are able to unlock the lock pattern screen in just five attempts.
As what the principal investigator and co-author of the said study Dr Zheng Wang has told Irish Mirror, the android users had mistaken this pattern security feature as one of the best actions in securing their phone containing important personal information, as he is convinced by that idea because of the findings of their study recently conducted. In another report of the same site, there are around 900 Million smartphone users who will be in total danger because of using the lock pattern security feature.
