Fix: Android pattern lock can be cracked in five attempts

If you think the popular Android pattern lock system is the best way to safeguard your device, you are mistaken as experts show it can be easily broken in just five attempts.

Around 40% of Android users utilize these lock patterns, which require them to join some of the dots from a nine-node grid to create a confidential pattern. Most of the people consider that these patterns are easier to remember than any text passwords or PIN codes.

By using nine-nodes, you can create over 389,112 lock screen patterns that sound like pretty secure. However, security researchers have declared that it takes only 5 attempts to break Android pattern lock. And more complicated lock patterns are the easiest to crack.

As per the study of researchers from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath in Germany, all it takes to crack a pattern lock system for Android is a camera phone and some simple computer vision software.

Researchers tested the method by recording a video of Android owners while they’re drawing their lock screen pattern to unlock their phone. Then they used computer vision software and it was fully able to trace and recognize their fingertip movements. The fingertip tracking can be carried out on the basis of device’s position. Researchers said in a university statement,

“Within seconds, the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.”

According to researchers, results are accurate even when the video is recorded from up to two and a half miles away or up to nine meters away. The algorithm was tested on 120 unique patterns by 215 different users and more than 95% of patterns were successfully cracked within five attempts.

Experts evaluated that complex patterns are easier to crack as they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options. The lead author Guixin Ye from Northwest University said,

“Contrary to many people’s perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns.”

How to hack-proof your Android pattern lock

Although the findings are certainly a cause for concern, here are some tips to hack-proof your Android pattern lock:

1. Users should cover their fingers while drawing lock screen pattern, just as some prefer to cover their typing while entering a PIN into a payment counter card swiper
2. Experts suggest that Android pattern lock designers should also blend pattern locking with other activities like entering a sentence using Swype-like techniques
3. You can adjust the screen color and brightness while lock pattern is drawn. It can also confuse the recording camera
4. There’s always an option to switch to a different authentication method such as iris scanner or fingerprint reader if your Android phone has one

So, now if you choose an Android lock pattern to safeguard your device, then think twice and take a little more care while unlocking your smartphone.

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