Shoulder surfing at ATMs is a form of social engineering that allows cyber criminals to access users’ personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers and bank account information. Shoulder surfing does not require technical skills, but the ability to closely observe users typing patterns and the environment around ATMs. Criminals also use eye-tracking technology to identify passwords and PIN numbers entered by bank customers. Shoulder surfing occurs when someone tries to access personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers and bank account details. When the snooper uses this information for financial gain, the activity becomes identity theft.
You run the risk of being hacked visually if you use your computer in public. Here are some tips to prevent visual hackers from gaining access to your monitor and even your personal information. Tilt your screen and position your chair so that no one can see what you are working on. Use a bag on your back and behave in a dark room, such as a darkened room with a window wall or an office without a window. Privacy windows and privacy filters are one way to deter potential data thieves from taking a cursory look at your information. Adding a privacy screen can help to limit the field of view of your screen, but it does not protect your keystrokes from being watched.
More complex and expensive methods are the rigid-based password input, which makes it difficult to observe the password entry and is only used in exceptional situations. Password-free authentication eliminates the need for passwords and thus reduces the risk associated with stolen passwords, including those stolen using shoulder surfing techniques. Adding two – factor authentication won’t prevent shoulder surfing – but it will make it harder for an attacker to use a stolen password or security issues. Shoulder surfing is one of the social engineering strategies used to get access to a user’s personal information such as passwords, email addresses, phone numbers and credit card numbers.
As the innocent-sounding name suggests, it is simply a means of spying on the user’s movements and the person in front of him or her. This is a major security issue, as you can typically select a person who will be curious and take a look at the video you are watching, even though you do not have sensitive data on your device in practice. As you queue for your morning coffee, pull out your smartphone and start to read about business-related emails and online banking. Surfing on your shoulder should not be a particular worry when you are doing your work in a place like a workplace cafe or café.
This technique is becoming more sophisticated – technically using a technique called shoulder surfing, where criminals use hidden cameras to take pictures of your online activity, putting you at risk of shoulder wear – surfing identity theft. Identity thieves can spy on users’ activities by watching what you type on your mobile device. In a recent blog post, security expert Robert Siciliano explains that thieves can use not only the screen images, but also the user’s finger movements, which can be monitored by trained criminals to detect passwords and login information. You don’t have to spend thousands to put malware on a website – you’ll be looking over your shoulder and seeing what you’re typing in. Over time, you may see what passwords you enter, how your network is configured, and what sensitive files you have on your computer.
Shoulder surfers can take advantage of the view – and improve devices that help them spy on your computer from a distance or even up to 30 feet away. Shoulder surfing can uncover the private content of your mobile device by searching ATM cards and passwords. In cyber attacks, cyber criminals follow an ATM user to an ATM and try to get hold of PINs and other sensitive information. The criminals make fake debit cards and use them in shops to get PIN numbers or other sensitive customer data.
In ATMs, hidden cameras and secret microphones are installed to record the data entered by the ATM user. A personal identification number (PIN) is used to authenticate, withdraw or deposit money from an ATM, or to unlock your phone, door, laptop, or PDA. In this situation, this authentication method is a two-step verification process, but it is vulnerable to shoulder surfing attacks because in some situations this is the two-step verification process. In a shoulder-cornered attack, the opponent observes the movement of the victim and the sensitive information that is gained. The attacker looks directly over the victim’s shoulder and receives the PIN by recording the entire login process with a hidden camera, secret microphone or secret camera on the attacker’s shoulder.