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Google Glass Snoopers can Steal Your Passcode with a Glance

posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday June 25 2014, @03:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the Peak-Peeking dept.

taylorvich writes:

The odds are you can't make out the PIN of that guy with the sun glaring obliquely off his iPad's screen across the coffee shop. But if he's wearing Google Glass or a smartwatch, he probably can see yours.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell found they could use video from wearables like Google Glass and the Samsung smartwatch to surreptitiously pick up four-digit PIN codes typed onto an iPad from almost 10 feet away-and from nearly 150 feet with a high-def camcorder. Their software, which used a custom-coded video recognition algorithm that tracks the shadows from finger taps, could spot the codes even when the video didn't capture any images on the target devices' displays.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by choose another one on Wednesday June 25 2014, @08:58AM

    by choose another one (515) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 25 2014, @08:58AM (#59745)

    Ah, so you're saying that in a line of 20 people behind you at the ATM, at least 18 of them have a pen cam, hat cam, glasses cam, or watch cam aimed at you?

    Where do you go where 18 of them have Google Glass ? Point is you can see someone using Glass, but not necessarily the other options.

    Also, the researchers got good accuracy 150ft away using an HD cam corder, and remember they were looking at non-fixed targets (tablets, phones). With tripod and decent optics, I bet you could target a fixed keyboard like an ATM from a _lot_ further away.

    How many windows overlook your ATM ? Within 150ft ? Within 500ft ? Why focus on the low-res low-quality close-in-only Google Glass result ?

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  • (Score: 2) by jimshatt on Wednesday June 25 2014, @09:27AM

    by jimshatt (978) on Wednesday June 25 2014, @09:27AM (#59756) Journal
    The problem with fixed cams on targets like ATMs is that the situation will probably be investigated after a few police reports, possibly resulting in getting caught. Mobile cams have a much greater operational range.

    A problem I see with the random digit keypads (as proposed earlier) is that it will take you a longer time typing in the number, and maybe exposing more clearly what you type in because you have to look at the keypad. Now I just wave my hand over the keypad, using the other hand as a shield. I still like the idea though.

  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday June 25 2014, @05:39PM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 25 2014, @05:39PM (#59979)
    "Where do you go where 18 of them have Google Glass ?"

    What do you think will happen if they take off?

    "Point is you can see someone using Glass, but not necessarily the other options."

    What you can't see is if they're recording.
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