You Think Your Phone Pattern Lock is Safe? Wait Until You Read This.

Your Android Pattern Lock Can Be Cracked In Just 5 Attempt

Presently, Android is widely used by all devices globally. An Android device offer PIN codes and text passwords for the protection of the devices. Some devices also provide Pattern Lock method for security. You can also select your own pattern as a password.

More than 40 percent of Android phone holders use the Pattern Lock method for a password. This method is a screen unlock tool from which you can unlock your touch screen device. You will see a 3×3 grid, which has nine dots. In the display, you have to make a pattern using the nine dots of your own selection. You have to drag through the dots without raising your finger from the screen.

Most of you believe that pattern lock is safer than PIN codes or text passwords but this is not true. The experimenter from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China and the University of Bath have proved that pattern unlock is not safe. They said that “they can solve approx. 95 percent of pattern lock with the help of video and computer vision algorithm software. This can be done in five attempts only. If you have thought that your pattern is very complex one then remember that complex patterns are simpler to be cracked.

The principle researcher and co-writer of the paper at Lancaster University , Dr. Zheng Wang said that “ Now a day, pattern lock method is very common in Android devices. This pattern is also utilized for online banking and online shopping. Users should keep a complex pattern so that it cannot be cracked, but complex patterns are simpler to crack. A complex pattern could be very unsafe. ”

The researchers confirmed that their statement by confidentially recording video of 120 contestants when they were unlocking their devices by using pattern lock method in an open area. Then by using the fingerprint algorithm, they chased the actions of the contestant’s fingers. The algorithm rapidly suggested some suitable patterns unlock the device. Hence, they got the perfect key. The video was recorded from two and a half meters distance. This video can be recorded from a distance of nine meters from a digital SLR camera.

Ways To Protect?

The patterns which were cracked were 87.5 percent of complex patterns and rest were simple ones. Hence, you should not use a complex pattern for your devices. The chief student author from Northwest University also said that a more complex pattern is more dangerous for online transactions and online banking. And these types of patterns can be cracked more effortlessly.

You can use a shorter and simple pattern for your safety. You can also hide your actions when unlocking your device. You can also alter the display color and brightness to complicate the person recording video. Swype-like methods can also help you from getting chased.

Source: Gadgetsay