Do you wipe the input interface (e.g. phone screen, computer keyboard, payment terminals pin pad) after you type in the pin/password? (In order to hide any fingerprints/residue on the keys)
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
No. If you've used it to input literally anything else you've already obfuscated the password (typing on keyboard, using apps on phone). Besides that, there is no telling the length, number of repeated characters, or shift combined (capital letters, symbols) involved just by looking at finger prints on a keyboard.
Two factor authentication and other layered security is low effort and more effective. If you're worried about a PIN for debit cards the greater concern is skimmers, common at gas stations and atms. The best preventative here is to become familiar with checking for those and minimizing how much money is in your debit account - keep it in savings, use a credit card instead where able.
I do clean my phone screen and keyboards occasionally just because they can get gross.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
I am paranoid to think of such things occasionally, which is why I can tell you that my password is long enough that it includes more than half the alphabet.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
I’ve never heard of that being used to steal a password—for one thing, it wouldn’t reveal the order in which you pressed the keys, so it would still leave n! possibilities (24 possibilities for a 4-digit pin, or 40,320 for an 8-letter password). And in any case, if someone were to examine the keys afterward, it’s more likely they could see which keys you wiped if you just wiped the ones you used (and if you wiped all of them, it would make it easier to steal the password of the next user).
The bigger thing to worry about is a hidden camera recording your key presses—and to counter that, I position my fingers over all the keys I’ll use and then move all my fingers with each press, so it’s harder to see which key was key was actually pressed.
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I do that at the ATM and I also double-check for scanners on the bank card input.
My phone unlock is a cluster fuck so I'm not worried about anyone who tries it. Scarier is that there's ways to bypass it, so if it gets stolen I'm kinda fucked.
I don’t wipe the keypad off but I do pull on the card slot just in case there’s a card reader, especially in bigger or new cities.
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I do that at the ATM and I also double-check for scanners on the bank card input.
My phone unlock is a cluster fuck so I'm not worried about anyone who tries it. Scarier is that there's ways to bypass it, so if it gets stolen I'm kinda fucked.
if it gets stolen I'm kinda fucked.
Thats what you get for being worth something. If my phone gets stolen all that'll happen is the debt collection agencies will see that "I" have moved to China.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
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I’ve never heard of that being used to steal a password—for one thing, it wouldn’t reveal the order in which you pressed the keys, so it would still leave n! possibilities (24 possibilities for a 4-digit pin, or 40,320 for an 8-letter password). And in any case, if someone were to examine the keys afterward, it’s more likely they could see which keys you wiped if you just wiped the ones you used (and if you wiped all of them, it would make it easier to steal the password of the next user).
The bigger thing to worry about is a hidden camera recording your key presses—and to counter that, I position my fingers over all the keys I’ll use and then move all my fingers with each press, so it’s harder to see which key was key was actually pressed.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
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Not because of passwords, but I wipe down my phone screen once a day, keyboard around once a week.
No don't wipe your keyboard, you'll ruin the seasoning.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
No, but I sanitize my phone regularly.
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Lol, FBI could just bypass the lockscreen, this is more like defence against fraudsters and thieves (including identity thieves).
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I’ve never heard of that being used to steal a password—for one thing, it wouldn’t reveal the order in which you pressed the keys, so it would still leave n! possibilities (24 possibilities for a 4-digit pin, or 40,320 for an 8-letter password). And in any case, if someone were to examine the keys afterward, it’s more likely they could see which keys you wiped if you just wiped the ones you used (and if you wiped all of them, it would make it easier to steal the password of the next user).
The bigger thing to worry about is a hidden camera recording your key presses—and to counter that, I position my fingers over all the keys I’ll use and then move all my fingers with each press, so it’s harder to see which key was key was actually pressed.
Keylogging says hi
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Lol, FBI could just bypass the lockscreen, this is more like defence against fraudsters and thieves (including identity thieves).
I was just joking that OP (you) are trying to hide something, that I would hint the FBI to catch you.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
The numbers on my lock screen randomize their locations, so even if you saw my finger movements and grease pattern, you couldn't guess the code.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
When using a public PIN pad, I cover the whole thing with my other hand and make fake button presses in between the real ones.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
If it's an outdoor pin pad the winter, such as a gas station, I'll touch all the keys so the thermal signature doesn't show which keys I pushed.
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
If it's an outdoor pin pad the winter, such as a gas station, I'll touch all the keys so the thermal signature doesn't show which keys I pushed.
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This, 1000% this.
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The numbers on my lock screen randomize their locations, so even if you saw my finger movements and grease pattern, you couldn't guess the code.
On your phone? Need an app for that?
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I mean like, after I type a password on a computer, I'd rub my fingers across the entire keyboard to make sure any fingerprints/oil-residues gets evenly distributed so its harder to know the password. Same with phone unlock codes, I just use my fingers to rub against the part of the screen where the virtual keyboard was displayed.
Am I being weird? I've had this habit since the first time I got my first digital electronics.
Yes you are being weird. Why do you think anyone will bother getting physical access to your device?
