4 ms·

It seems like any video enabled device can steal your passcode if it sees you enter it. The phone they used did even better in glass from 10 feet away. I hope

It seems like any video enabled device can steal your passcode if it sees you enter it. The phone they used did even better in glass from 10 feet away. I hope this makes a push for more/better biometric locks on every day devices.

sanswork 12y ago
Biometrics are just passwords you can never change. In "something you know, something you have" the second probably shouldn't be something you can never change if compromised.
- dublinben 12y ago
  Fingerprints are also one of the most promiscuous of biometric indicators possible. You leave your fingerprints just about everywhere you go, which can be picked up with some powder and sticky tape. I would never consider my fingerprint to be a secure form of identification, nor should systems be designed that make this assumption.
  - lotu 12y ago
    I don't know I can see fingerprints being more secure than 4 digit pin. I can watch people enter their 4 digit pin and memorize just by standing next to them on the subway. I can't do the same thing with a fingerprint.
    - dublinben 12y ago
      It's possible you could actually lift a usable fingerprint off the surface of a phone that you find. We leave them everywhere.
- ryanmcbride 12y ago
  That's a good point. But while it's permanent it's at least harder to replicate for the time being.
enraged_camel 12y ago
>>It seems like any video enabled device can steal your passcode if it sees you enter it. The phone they used did even better in glass from 10 feet away. The difference is that when you record someone with a non-wearable device, it's pretty obvious. In the phone example, you have to hold it up a certain way, which will immediately alert the target (as well as anyone in the vicinity) if they are paying attention. With Glass though, who knows if you are recording or not? AFAIK there isn't a red "recording" light that comes on, right? So as far as people are concerned, you might just be casually glancing in their direction, except you aren't.
- raldi 12y ago
  > In the phone example, you have to hold it up a certain way, which will immediately alert the target (as well as anyone in the vicinity) That's not really true. It's very easy to take a picture while holding the phone in a way that makes it look as if you're just reading it.
- codeka 12y ago
  From the article, they were able to capture the PIN code from across the street and two stories up using a camcorder. You're not even going see that person.
- personZ 12y ago
  With Glass though, who knows if you are recording or not? Without Glass, who knows if you are recording or not. The hysterics (largely driven through anti-Google rhetoric, fwiw. People like Gruber are on the front-lines of anti-Glass hate) seem naively simplistic. In this case, there are people stealing your pin codes, and they do it in bulk, using tiny, concealed video devices that you never knew were there. And as for everyone else, any of them, and any of your environments, can be absolutely coated with surveillance devices. High capacity, very tiny cameras are literally low-single digit prices now. Singling out Google glass users is luddism that uses it as an easy bully victim in hopes that it makes technology suddenly regress. Only technology is long past it.
- Oletros 12y ago
  > AFAIK there isn't a red "recording" light that comes on, right? Yes, there is

sanswork 12y ago

Biometrics are just passwords you can never change. In "something you know, something you have" the second probably shouldn't be something you can never change if compromised.

dublinben 12y ago
Fingerprints are also one of the most promiscuous of biometric indicators possible. You leave your fingerprints just about everywhere you go, which can be picked up with some powder and sticky tape. I would never consider my fingerprint to be a secure form of identification, nor should systems be designed that make this assumption.
- lotu 12y ago
  I don't know I can see fingerprints being more secure than 4 digit pin. I can watch people enter their 4 digit pin and memorize just by standing next to them on the subway. I can't do the same thing with a fingerprint.
  - dublinben 12y ago
    It's possible you could actually lift a usable fingerprint off the surface of a phone that you find. We leave them everywhere.
ryanmcbride 12y ago
That's a good point. But while it's permanent it's at least harder to replicate for the time being.

enraged_camel 12y ago

>>It seems like any video enabled device can steal your passcode if it sees you enter it. The phone they used did even better in glass from 10 feet away. The difference is that when you record someone with a non-wearable device, it's pretty obvious. In the phone example, you have to hold it up a certain way, which will immediately alert the target (as well as anyone in the vicinity) if they are paying attention. With Glass though, who knows if you are recording or not? AFAIK there isn't a red "recording" light that comes on, right? So as far as people are concerned, you might just be casually glancing in their direction, except you aren't.

raldi 12y ago
> In the phone example, you have to hold it up a certain way, which will immediately alert the target (as well as anyone in the vicinity) That's not really true. It's very easy to take a picture while holding the phone in a way that makes it look as if you're just reading it.
codeka 12y ago
From the article, they were able to capture the PIN code from across the street and two stories up using a camcorder. You're not even going see that person.
personZ 12y ago
With Glass though, who knows if you are recording or not? Without Glass, who knows if you are recording or not. The hysterics (largely driven through anti-Google rhetoric, fwiw. People like Gruber are on the front-lines of anti-Glass hate) seem naively simplistic. In this case, there are people stealing your pin codes, and they do it in bulk, using tiny, concealed video devices that you never knew were there. And as for everyone else, any of them, and any of your environments, can be absolutely coated with surveillance devices. High capacity, very tiny cameras are literally low-single digit prices now. Singling out Google glass users is luddism that uses it as an easy bully victim in hopes that it makes technology suddenly regress. Only technology is long past it.
Oletros 12y ago
> AFAIK there isn't a red "recording" light that comes on, right? Yes, there is