[The Register] Android in user-chosen lockscreen patterns are grimly predictable

[The_Unbeliever]

People choose predictable Android lock screen patterns just like they pick predictable passwords.

Research by Marte Løge, a recent graduate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, confirmed that the problems people have in setting up secure passwords and PINs are replicated in the field of Android lockscreen patterns.

People gravitate towards simple patterns that are easy to guess.

Unlocking patterns prompt users to draw an array which touches between four and nine "nodes". This creates up to 389,112 potential patterns.

But Løge's study of 3,400 user-selected patterns revealed that the most commonly selected patterns used only four nodes. The average was five nodes, greatly reducing the number of possible combinations.

Rest of the article is here : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/26/android_lockscreen_patterns_predictable/

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Gotta try it

 

[konfab]

I use all 9 nodes, plus overlap. People think I am crazy when they see me unlock my phone.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

any pattern picked by a person can be guessed, as were all born lazy, they get hacked easily;

best so far is fingerprint sensor; or retina scan to unlock your phone;

but that last one is just me.......

 

[Impulse_One]

It's predictable like on keylogger. Fingerprints and trails left by fingers, unless wiped with cloth.