Most people protect their cell phones with a password. Syracuse University researchers were the first to find a way to outsmart your smartphone security features. As Iris St. Meran explains, their research showed your hands can potentially do you some harm.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Smartphones are the accessory almost everyone has. From banking to video editing you can do anything on them and that's one reason to keep them secure.
"The password, the four number password," said Megan Morris.
"The only thing I do is keep it in my pocket and just remember everywhere I go that big phone is in my pocket because I can't remember passwords and I know that's really bad," Stan Chen said.
Manufacturers have developed technology to recognize your face or fingerprint, but most people key in some type of code. Researchers have found a way to figure that out observing hand movements on video. They say it is almost like reading lips.
"Because we know where the keyboard is on the phone then we can see where it's going, then we use some mathematical techniques, machine learning methods to decipher the PIN. We have been quite successful," said Vir Phoha, Syracuse University computer science and electrical engineering professor
Phoha said the technology worked with different brands of smartphones. He said his students had nearly 100 percent accuracy in determining passwords when they observed three to four videos of the same person punching in a PIN.
"It does concern me because everything is on my phone now. Like my bills, my bank card, everything," said Morris.
There's no indication that anyone has used this method to hack into cell phones. But the research has shown it's harder to detect a PIN or password when you type with both hands and use a full keyboard. Phoha cautioned hackers would have to have your phone in order to really do you harm. He stresses you should be mindful of how your use your phone in public and to change your passwords periodically.
Another area he sees as problematic is the fact that most people tend to use the same passwords for all of their devices and programs.
"This was an eye opening thing," said Phoha.