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> We demonstrate how an inactive or even a minimised web page, using JavaScript, is able to listen to and silently report the device motion and orientation data
by tboyd47 10y ago
> We demonstrate how an inactive or even a minimised web page, using JavaScript, is able to listen to and silently report the device motion and orientation data about a user who is working on a separate tab or a separate app on the device.
This is brilliant and well-explained.
On page 6 of the PDF, the authors include a breakdown of the leakages they found in each browser family. The two that were most significant to me is Chrome's "Active/Other" leak on iPhones and Safari's "Locked" leak. I believe this means that malicious Javascript (1) on Google Chrome on an iPhone on an inactive tab, and (2) on mobile Safari while the screen is locked, can access tilt and motion data at a level of detail sufficient to deduce what the user is typing.
- jacquesm 10y agoAccelerometer data could be used too to figure out how long it took to move from one entry on a virtual keyboard to another reducing the search space considerably.
- plopz 10y agoIsn't Google Chrome on iPhones just a reskinned Safari since Apple doesn't allow other browsers to use their own engines?
- militantVagrant 10y agoBingo. It's not really Chrome at all. A better author would have pointed out that the iOS platform is flawed, its singular browser in any of its different wrappers is vulnerable in exactly the same way.