Hackers can use smartphone microphones to track your passwords: Research

Hackers can crack your online passwords just by listening to the sound of your keystrokes! Researchers at Southern Methodist University in Texas have recently found out that the microphones on the smartphones can let hackers work out your password by simply listening to the typing sound and it results in “remarkable accuracy”. As per a report by The Telegraph, this sound is audible even in crowded or noisy places like coffee shops, public transport where many prefer to sit and work on their laptops. According to researchers, they were able to decode much of the password even when it was being typed in a noisy environment. [caption id=“attachment_7192291” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Smartphone microphone picks up the sound waves produced when you type a password on your computer or laptop keyboard. Image Pixabay.[/caption] How does it work? Well, since your smartphone’s microphone is always active (until chosen otherwise), it picks up the sound waves produced when you type a password on your computer or laptop keyboard. These acoustic signals are processed and that allows the hacker to understand which keys were being pressed while you typed the password. (Also read:  Google reports that 1.5 percent of chrome's user passwords are unsafe and vulnerable ) These cybersecurity experts told The Telegraph that during their study, they were able to pick up a password with up to 41 percent accuracy rate which could have been improved if they looked at the top 10 most common words that people use in passwords.