A recent study made by researchers from the University of California suggested that it was possible for hackers to steal password by analyzing the heat left by one's fingers on his/her keyboard. This news was both intriguing and shocking at the same time.
Professor Tsudik, while talking to the media about this discovery, revealed that all a hacker needs to get his/her hands on somebody's credentials is a heat sensing camera, and one minute after a target user has typed his/her secret code. Then using the data collected by the camera (consisting of heat marks) the hacker can identify the keys pressed, and then rearrange them to find the right code.
Under experimental conditions set by the researchers, 31 volunteers were asked to type their credentials on four different types of keyboards. Afterward, eight amateurs were asked to use recordings from heat sensors to collect data and determine passwords. It was proven that even non-experts could recover the keys, if shown the heat imaging of 30 seconds after the keys were pressed.
By coming forward with details of this technique (labeled Thermanator) the researchers hope that the designers would come up with innovative and better ideas to replace the unreliable passwords.
Professor Tsudik, while talking to the media about this discovery, revealed that all a hacker needs to get his/her hands on somebody's credentials is a heat sensing camera, and one minute after a target user has typed his/her secret code. Then using the data collected by the camera (consisting of heat marks) the hacker can identify the keys pressed, and then rearrange them to find the right code.
Under experimental conditions set by the researchers, 31 volunteers were asked to type their credentials on four different types of keyboards. Afterward, eight amateurs were asked to use recordings from heat sensors to collect data and determine passwords. It was proven that even non-experts could recover the keys, if shown the heat imaging of 30 seconds after the keys were pressed.
By coming forward with details of this technique (labeled Thermanator) the researchers hope that the designers would come up with innovative and better ideas to replace the unreliable passwords.
