Can your Android pattern lock be easily exploited?

Pattern unlocks consist of a grid of dots on a device’s lock screen which users connect in a unique way to gain access to the phone. It’s popular unlocking method — it’s estimated that 40 percent of Android owners use it as opposed to a PIN or a password — but it’s also one of the less secure.

The study was carried out in a collaboration between Lancaster University, the University of Bath and Northwest University in China, who filmed smartphone users while they drew the unlock patterns onto their smartphone screens.

The researchers tested 120 unique patterns from 215 users and discovered that the tracking software was able to correctly identify the pattern within five attempts in 95 percent of the cases. The process is said to work even when the camera can’t see the device display and from up to nine meters away when recorded on a DSLR camera.

Ironically, it also seemed that the more complicated pattern, the easier it was to crack.

Most Android users are probably aware that patterns are less secure than PINs or text passwords; many Android devices make this fact known to the user when choose an unlock method. Further, the use of a camera and dedicated software may seem like a convoluted approach when you can often look at someone draw a pattern and simply memorize it.

Finding ways around Android lock security screen isn’t a new practice. Facial recognition locks can be tricked with a photograph, and fingerprint scanners can be bypassed using sticky tape. This research, in essence, is just more evidence that patterns are a lesser form of lock screen security.

If you want to help keep your device safe, you could try to ensure you unlock your phone away from prying eyes or change to a more secure unlock method like a PIN or password. The applock is perhaps the most rudimentary of security apps. The way it works is that it will lock up your other apps from prying eyes. That way you don’t have to worry about someone accessing your Facebook, gallery app, or banking app. They work best when paired with a lock screen lock to give you two layers of security.

No matter which way you look at it, lock screen security is a thing we should all be using on our smartphones. Sure, typing in a PIN or password dozens of times each day can get annoying, but using one of these methods might actually be able to help you keep all your information safe.

To help combat these small annoyances, there are a few features built into Android that should help ease the unlocking process a bit. Google’s Smart Lock feature has certainly proved itself useful over the years, allowing your phone to stay unlocked if it’s in a certain location (work, home, etc.), connected to a Bluetooth device, or when it recognizes your voice. Personally, I use my phone’s fingerprint sensor as my main form of security, and my backup method is a pattern. I also use Smart Lock to automatically unlock my phone when I’m at home and when I’m connected to my Moto 360 Sport.