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[br]Hackers are always on the lookout to mine personal information of people and use it as a means to defraud them.[br][br]They've used phishing and brute force attacks for years, and now, their modus operandi is becoming even more stealthy.[br][br]Case in point: a new trick that allows hackers to steal your passwords just by listening to how you type.[br][br]Here's all about it.[br][br]Typing generates soundwaves reflecting your key strokes[br][br]Typing on the virtual keyboard of a smartphone generates soundwaves, minute vibrations specific to each individual keystroke.[br][br]These sounds are difficult to hear, but researchers from Cambridge University and Sweden's Linköping University have shown that they can be decoded with a sophisticated app and algorithm and used to predict what exactly you are typing, even passwords.[br][br][br]Theory proved in real world tests[br][br]To explain their theory, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the researchers asked 45 different people to use smartphones infected with a malware disguised as an app.[br][br]The group stood at locations with different background noise levels and entered text on their phone.[br][br]As that happened, the malicious app on their devices recorded minute wave distortions occurring from every single keystroke...[br][br][br]Machine learning algorithm decrypts soundwaves[br][br]Once the sound waves were recorded, the team's machine learning algorithm was able to decrypt the sound waves.[br][br]The system used the waves to determine where they were generated (the location on keyboard), thereby decoding the exact letters - and words - the subjects were typing.[br][br]This, the researchers said, can easily be used for mining confidential pin codes, passwords, etc.[br][br]Hackers just have to install an app[br][br]That said, hackers just have to install a malicious app on your phone to hack its microphone and record typing-related wave distortions.[br][br]Yes, there is a way to deny microphone permissions, but most users allow permissions without even looking if it's required by a particular app.[br][br]According to the researchers, however, a manual switch to turn off smartphone mic could avoid such attacks.[br][br][br][br]#Infinix_India.... |
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