Hackers Could Steal Your Password By Hearing How You Type

Your password can be stolen in a variety of ways. The most common way is by using a very easy-to-guess password in which hackers won’t even need to try too hard to break into your account. Other more complex ways involve phishing, where hackers create a website that mimics the website of a service you use and once you enter your credentials, that information is stolen.

However, it seems that hackers might have found another way to steal passwords off users and that is by listening to how they type. In a recent study published by the University of Cambridge, England and Linköping University in Sweden, it seems that they have figured out based on how you type, it is possible that your password could be gleaned from that.

It’s not the most perfect system because based on the research, their algorithm managed to guess 31 out of 50 4-digit logins in 10 attempts. We imagine that longer passwords could pose a bigger challenge due to the sheer number of possible combinations, but the fact that it can still be guessed is a bit worrisome.

The method involved users typing on their smartphones or tablets where the sound waves made from your fingers hitting against the screen, which then travels to the phone’s microphone, allowed the algorithm to figure out a possible password. Of course, this is dependent on the hackers infecting your device with malware and gaining access to your device’s microphone to begin with, but the fact that such a possibility exists is a bit scary.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Hack, Security, Social Hit