I don’t keep a passcode on my phone, I just make my life too boring to hack. Hey iPhone Addicts, Jules here for Dnews! It’s 2017, and passwords are soooo passé! It goes without saying that our phones have become our main confidants, and the information on them; sacrosanct. In the last few years, we’ve seen countless variations on phone security, and new authentication methods on the part of companies like Android and Apple. Things like fingerprint scanning, encrypted passcodes, even complex patterns that have to be inputted to gain access into the device. But technology researchers will soon present a scary reality at the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium of 2017. They used covertly taken video of someone using Pattern Lock on their Android device and paired it with computer vision algorithm software, which was then able to produce the correct pattern within just five attempts. The software was able to do this by tracking the victim’s fingertips, from as far as 2 and a half meters away. So, if you thought Pattern Lock was safer than a passcode, maybe it isn’t. Plus, most people don’t use difficult to guess patterns or passcodes, making the job of cracking them even easier. Some security analysts suggest that the method of locking is less important than using multiple encryption. Most phones have an option where after a certain limited number of attempts, the phone locks itself down until you can get it to a computer for validation, or it simply wipes the device clean. But even this encryption can be subverted by making multiple copies of the phone’s software. So maybe the solution is to have a better password than just a four digit number of nine-point pattern. A four digit pin has about 10,000 possible combinations, a four-to-nine-point pattern has closer to 400,000 combinations, but if you use an actual, alphanumeric password, the number of options increases exponentially. Even if you use a five-character alphanumeric password, with 90 different character options, you’ll end up with almost six billion different combinations.

That’s pretty secure. But of course, if someone sees you input your password, whether it be a camera, or just someone looking over your shoulder, your security is gone altogether. So what about fingerprint scanning? That’s safe, right? Well, for starters, your fingerprint isn’t really protected. As we’ve talked about before on DNews, a number of companies have shown that fingerprint unlocking can be done using 3D printed prints. In 2013, a hacking group called the Chaos Computer Club took a photograph of a fingerprint, laser printed it, poured rubber over the pattern, and was able to use this mold to unlock a phone. And of course, there’s the less scientific method of just knocking you out and pressing your thumb against the phone. And legally, a fingerprint is not even considered a “password”. That might seem obvious, but an important example is if you are arrested and the police want to go through your phone. The Fifth Amendment says that you cannot be compelled to provide self-incriminating evidence, like a password, but according to a court in Virginia, your fingerprint is not incriminating information. Other biometric ideas are in the works to help keep phones secure, and may one day be standard on all phones. It’s already possible to recognize a designated person using their heart-rate, their vein pattern under the skin, even by the iris and retina in the eye. For now, it may just be a good idea to keep sensitive data off your phone. If you want to know more about how phones can be hacked, check out this video here. So that’s hacking your phone, but did you know you can hack your body and implant technology in it? Our friends at Zoetic cover that in this video, here. And what do you guys use? A pattern? a pin? a password? Your fingerprint? Let us know down below in the comments and don't forget to like and subscribe for more DNews every day.