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from the they-will-never-guess-my-age-because-I-leave-my-phone-unlocked! dept.
How you lock your smartphone can reveal your age: UBC study:
Older smartphone users tend to rely more on their phones' auto lock feature compared to younger users, a new UBC study has found. They also prefer using PINs over fingerprints to unlock their phones.
Researchers also found that older users are more likely to unlock their phones when they're stationary, such as when working at a desk or sitting at home.
The study is the first to explore the link between age and smartphone use, says Konstantin Beznosov, an electrical and computer engineering professor at UBC who supervised the research.
"As researchers working to protect smartphones from unauthorized access, we need to first understand how users use their devices," said Beznosov. "By tracking actual users during their daily interactions with their device, we now have real-world insights that can be used to inform future smartphone designs."
The full study is available through the ACM Digital Library.
(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Thursday June 20 2019, @09:18PM (4 children)
Maybe poor wording. Either way, your comment assumes that modern personal finances can and should be secured. People just don't have the resources or skills required. Better to just prepare to recover. You still need to avoid scams, but any app from your real bank on your phone is otherwise fine. Your phone is to low value... Better for the hacker to get your info and everyone elses direct from the bank or mega store. You can't control their security anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20 2019, @10:06PM (3 children)
Do what you like.
At the same time, I'll take my decades of IT and InfoSec experience over the pronouncements of some random asshole on the 'net any day.
(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Friday June 21 2019, @01:26AM (2 children)
First of all, I got a laugh out off this being posted as AC, thanks. Second, that is exactly my point. Modern skimmers at a gas station are completely hidden, nothing visible no matter how close you look. Coupled with breaches like home depot or target actual being secure is a virtual impossibility even with all of your training and 100s of hours of inconvenience every year. For someone without your training or mine it is even harder since they have to start by doing all the training you did for work. Your advice is so hard for the average person they'll just ignore it. Mine was simple as picking the next card over in your wallet. Anyone can do it with no training and no inconvenience if only they knew they should.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 21 2019, @02:51AM (1 child)
Same AC here.
There is some logic to your point. Sure, there are always risks to using electronic payment systems (which is what credit/debit cards are these days). I had my card data skimmed/stolen once too. And there is merit in preparing for that possibility. I'm with you so far.
However, *recommending* that folks expand their attack surface to include phone apps, especially given that such devices are so incredibly insecure that you don't need a skimmer, or even physical access to the device to gather such information, is bad advice, IMHO.
Note that I haven't made any actionable *recommendations*. I merely observed that if someone was expecting their mobile device to be secure enough for financial information/transactions, their expectations were way off (I did say "doing it wrong." but that adds up to pretty much the same thing).
You need to assume that anything you connect directly to the Internet will, eventually, be compromised. Smartphones are such devices.
Where I disagree with you is that I don't think *expanding* your attack surface is a good idea. Sometimes you have no choice, but if you do have a choice, it makes no sense to do so.
(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Friday June 21 2019, @02:44PM
Security and functionality are usually a trade off. You're willing to give up more functionality than most. I think that if you ask too much people will ignore all of what you say. Most security people advice is too far for the average person. Personally I think compliance on the basics would get society much farther than better advice ignored. Never use your phone for anything is definitely in the better but ignored realm. That cat is way out of the bag.