iSnoop: Automatic Eavesdropping from Touchscreen Keyboards

Spying on a person is an easy and effective method to obtain sensitive information, even when the victim is well protected against common digital attacks. Modern mobile devices allow people to perform some information sensitive actions in unsafe places, where anyone could easily observe the victim while typing.

What if your mobile phone has a cool touchscreen interface that gives you graphical feedback as you type (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry Torch)? Does it make shoulder surfing easier or, worse, automatable? We believe so, and to demonstrate it, we developed a practical shoulder surfing attack that automatically reconstructs the sequence of keystrokes by aiming a camera at the target touchscreen while the victim is typing.

Demo