Cybersecurity

Is Your Smartphone Secure?

According to security experts, the popular Pattern Lock system, used to secure millions of Android phones, can be cracked within just five attempts while more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets. In order to access a device’s functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on a grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.

A new research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, published on alphagalileo.org, shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software. The research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).