Smartwatch Wearers Exposed To Hacking

In a new study, University of Illinois researchers said they could use the motion sensors of a smartwatch to determine what users were typing on a keyboard.

Smartwatch Wearers Exposed To Hacking

The researchers created an application to track the minute motion of keystrokes as a wearer types. The data was fed into a "keystroke detection" program to analyse the timing of each movement and displacement of the watch.

For example, the left wrist moves further to type the letter T than the letter F.

By analysing these movements, the researchers could often determine the words being typed.

"Sensor data from wearable devices will be a double-edged sword," said Romit Roy Choudhury, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois.

"While the device's contact to the human body will offer invaluable insights into human health and context, it will also make way for deeper violation into human privacy."

The researchers said a camouflaged application installed on a smartwatch could enable hackers to gather data typed into e-mails, search queries or documents.

A Samsung watch was used for the project, but the researchers said any wearable device that uses motion sensors, such as the Apple Watch or Fitbit, could be vulnerable as well.

Source: Sowetan

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