Luttech System Solutions

How Google Glass and smartphones can decipher your PIN code from across the room

Security researchers from the US have shown that gadgets such as Google Glass can be used to covertly record PIN codes from distances of 10 feet – even if the target display is hidden from view.
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Wired reports that the research team led by Professor Xinwen Fu of the University of Massachusetts Lowell used software that analysed the shadows and movements of peoples’ fingers in order to decipher PIN codes entered into tablets and smartphones.

A range of devices were tested including Google Glass (which recently went on sale in the UK), an iPhone 5, a Samsung smartwatch and a Logitech we**am. Video captured by Glass produced a correct four digit PIN from three metres away with 83 per cent accuracy (this was improved to more than 90 per cent with manual corrections) while the we**am was accurate 92 per cent of the time.

Similar software has been created in the past (including an iOS app) but this is the first instance of technology that can decipher PINS even when the display is unreadable. Fu explains that it does this by creating a reference image of the iPad’s screen and mapping the target’s finger movements onto this.

A diagram from the team showing their software being used with a high-definition camcorder. Credit: Cyber Forensics Laboratory at University of Massachusetts Lowell

“Any camera works, but you can’t hold your iPhone over someone to do this,” Fu told Wired magazine. “Because Glass is on your head, it’s perfect for this kind of sneaky attack.”

In response to the research Google issued a statement saying: “Unfortunately, stealing passwords by watching people as they type them is nothing new. We designed Glass with privacy in mind. The fact that Glass is worn above the eyes and the screen lights up whenever it’s activated clearly signals it’s in use and makes it a fairly lousy surveillance device.”

The research team were also able to record PIN codes using the same software from a distance of nearly 150 feet by using a more expensive camcorder with an optical zoom. With this high resolution equipment they were able to capture a target’s PIN from a fourth storey window on the other side of the road.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this problem: apps and add-ons that randomize the PIN entry pad’s layout. If the software doesn’t know which layout is being used then it can’t work out which buttons are being pressed. Fu and his team have even created such an add-on which they hope to release for Android devices in August as the Privacy Enhancing Keyboard or PEK.

Google's Project Ara To Revolutionize Smartphone Industry With 'Spare Part' Device

The face of the smartphone industry is set for a radical change as Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) is set to release a brand new type of 'spare-part' smartphone.

Imagine you have a phone that comes with the unlimited option to change any of its features. Just like you change the casing of some ordinary phones, or the way photographers change the lens of their cameras, anything on the project Ara device can be changed.

Engadget took a close look at the revolutionary project and reports

"The Ara consists of a metal endoskeleton, which is essentially the spine of the phone, and slots for replaceable components known as modules, which look a lot like tiles.

"These tiled modules can include anything that makes your phone tick (processor, RAM, WiFi, power jack, baseband, display and battery, for instance), as well as plenty of other features like your camera, speakers and storage space.

"Each module will connect to the other working parts through capacitive interconnects, which are essentially wireless pads that are smaller than standard pins.

"Electropermanent magnets not only hold modules in place, but they also act as a toggle switch, which allows you to easily turn that element on and off."

So the Ara projects will put everything is in the users’ hands.

"As you might already imagine, all modules can be swapped out at your convenience."

The possibilities in this are huge. What it means is that two people with the same model of the Ara device might end up having totally different devices after choosing the modules they like.

The first Ara phones, "Grey Phone," will come with only a screen, processor and WiFi module and users can then easily add and take away components as they see fit."

Again, anybody can add or upgrade modules whenever they can afford to do so, according to personal budget.

Another plus in the Ara Project is the durability and longetivity it boasts of.

"Whereas most smartphones today can barely make it through a two-year contract, Ara is meant to last for several years."

However, ATAP is now trying to resolve the issues of size, weight and thickness of Ara devices and concerns with battery efficiency – though a user has the chance to just hot-swap batteries.

Desoite all these, the prospects of ATAP's Ara project is eagerly anticipated.