There are lots of reasons why many of us are paranoid abut technology. Does this sound familiar? You’re talking to your friend about a specific brand of shampoo and then suddenly there’s an ad for it in your Facebook and Instagram feeds with a voucher waiting for us in our inboxes. Not creepy at all. There are new Alexa stories popping up every week, confirming that the device is listening in on households; that’s the way in which the AI learns how to make our lives more comfortable.
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This phenomenon of feeling observed and tracked, like you have a spy camera mounted on your body, has made people wonder what, exactly, the capabilities of technology. Well, here’s one more thing to worry about: A new study shows that hackers might be able to decode our texts and searches, albeit through an unexpected method.
The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s likely hackers will soon develop the ability to know what people tap on their phones by simply accessing the microphone on the phones of unsuspecting victims.
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A study conducted by Cornell University finds that the sound waves produced by Androids and tablets are capable of informing hackers where someone is tapping on their screen, giving the listeners complete access to the letters and numbers that are being introduced into the device. 27 out of 45 passwords on a phone and 19 out of 27 passwords on a tablet were recovered in the study, all thanks to the vibrations made by tapping.
Although researchers say that it’s still too early for this technology to be used in the mainstream, in the future, phone vibrations might become a serious security concern.
