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: 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.