September 14, 2015 at 20:11Smart watches will help fraudsters find out what you type
Each new device becomes an occasion to worry about its privacy. Thanks to the sensors built into the smartwatch, attackers can track what you type on the keyboard with your left hand to guess what text you are entering.
Associate Professor at the University of Illinois in the National Wildlife Refuge Center with a group of students is working on Motion Leaks Project (MoLe). The team creates an application for smart watches Samsung Gear Live. Researchers use the accelerometer and gyroscope of the clock to create a three-dimensional map of hand movements and calculate the strokes on the keyboard.
One algorithm detects which keys the watch owner presses, and the second tries to guess the typed word.
The first algorithm compiles a beat map, and the second analyzes this data, the pause between keystrokes, and calculates how many keys were paused based on the print speed. The algorithm then compares the letters received and the pauses between them with the dictionary to find the most likely words. So far, researchers have some difficulties with special characters - numbers, punctuation marks and a space.
At the moment, the project only works with Samsung Gear Live watches, but the developers claim that theoretically a similar application can be created for other models of smart watches.
The research team points out the danger of using such devices with its project: attackers will be able to steal passwords and other data by creating such an application.
How exactly Motion Leaks works is clearly shown in the video.
The question arises, is it possible to do the opposite: do not read keystrokes on the keyboard, but use a smart watch and this technology for printing without a physical keyboard?
The first algorithm compiles a beat map, and the second analyzes this data, the pause between keystrokes, and calculates how many keys were paused based on the print speed. The algorithm then compares the letters received and the pauses between them with the dictionary to find the most likely words. So far, researchers have some difficulties with special characters - numbers, punctuation marks and a space.
At the moment, the project only works with Samsung Gear Live watches, but the developers claim that theoretically a similar application can be created for other models of smart watches.
The research team points out the danger of using such devices with its project: attackers will be able to steal passwords and other data by creating such an application.
How exactly Motion Leaks works is clearly shown in the video.
The question arises, is it possible to do the opposite: do not read keystrokes on the keyboard, but use a smart watch and this technology for printing without a physical keyboard?