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Spying on your smartphone over the shoulder…

So, everyone nowadays has a smartphone (iPhone, Android or Blackberry, not to forget all the new shiny tablets) and wherever you are, everyone is busy typing and typing on the touch screen. Have you ever considered how what you type on the screen could be read by someone looking over your shoulder? And have you considered all the CCTV cameras, how confident are you that whoever is behind the screens to oversee those cameras may not be interested in peeking at your phone screen instead? This paper explores the problem and the effectiveness of the methods used to automatically capture what you type.

Of course the problem is not restricted to smartphones: what happens when you work on the train with your laptop? Even if you own one of the older mobile phones, someone could still capture the numbers you are dialling, or the names you are calling. Instead of trying to steal your passwords, someone could simply look at what sites you are browsing and then chat you up in order to grab your attention (could be a nice pick up technique... or a complimentary social engineering method to profile you, depending on whoever may or may not be interested in grabbing your attention and why). What do you think?