Article by: Sudhir GK, CEO and Information Security Consultant, Inzinc Consulting India
Smudge Attack on Smartphones and other devices
Hackers always find new techniques to attack devices and applications. One such novel technique is the "Smudge attack". Smudge attack is a big information security threat particularly for smartphones, tablets and any touch screen devices. So, what is this Smudge attack all about? Let us learn.
A smudge attack is a method to pull out the password pattern of a touch screen device such as a smart phone or tablet computer. The method was investigated by a team of University of Pennsylvania researchers. Studies have shown that 68% of the touch screen patterns can be retrieved successfully.
So, how does a hacker pull out the touch screen pattern on devices?
While using our smartphones, all of us leave traces of our finger prints on the devices which are epidermal oils. These oils if not cleaned will remain on the touch screen devices. These oily residues are called "smudge". Hackers can use this smudge to track the touch screen patterns and finally may be successful in entering your touch screen device and probably even applications.
How to prevent smudge attacks on touch screen devices?
There are many ways in which smudge attack can be prevented in touch screen devices. One of the effective methods is to use complex patterns so that it becomes very difficult for the hackers to read the smudge and capture the patterns.
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