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I think you're missing the biggest security hole with passcodes: whenever someone on the subway unlocks their phone, I need to consciously look away or I'll ris
by Cushman 13y ago
I think you're missing the biggest security hole with passcodes: whenever someone on the subway unlocks their phone, I need to consciously look away or I'll risk inadvertently committing their code to memory. It makes me seriously uncomfortable.
I'll hazard a guess that abuse by acquaintances, intimate or casual, is the most common risk to smartphone users, and that the fingerprint is an incredible improvement over the status quo.
- danpalmer 13y agoThis is true, but this is more down to people not covering their phone. I tend to shield my phone to the point where it would be obvious to me if someone were trying to see my passcode. I think TouchID provides good security against 'casual attacks' - those by people who see you use your phone a lot, people who aren't going to put much effort into an 'attack', just try and post things on your Facebook account while you're out of the room. However, in the case of 'real' security, where a person is being targeted for their data, or anything like that, I think it would provide less security.
- Cushman 13y agoI find the idea that the typical 4-digit password provides any more security against an attacker dedicated enough to make a copy of your finger pretty hard to credit. You're placing a lot of weight on your "covering" ability. (There have been times I've had to try hard not to infer someone's passcode purely from their hand movements.)
- auctiontheory 13y agoIt makes me seriously uncomfortable. Oh I think it's cool to notice, for instance, that a physics major uses 3141.
- Cushman 13y agoI agree it'd be cool if it didn't amount to an enormous breach of computer etiquette :)
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]