Could your brainwaves be used to hack your accounts and steal passwords?
High-tech helmets called electroencephalograms or EEGs are often used to diagnose epilepsy, but are beginning to appear on the toy and video game markets. You can buy devices that allow you control robotic toys or play video games using just your mind for just £100. But a study recently proved that hackers could guess a user’s passwords using these headsets to monitor victims’ brainwaves. And now scientists are concerned that EEGs could be used in a similar way.
The researchers used two headsets to test their hypothesis – one clinical grade and one which can be bought online. Both headsets monitored visual processing, hand-eye and head muscle movements to “learn” what numbers a person was thinking about. They asked 23 people to type a series of randomly generated pins and passwords into a text box as if they were logging into an online account while wearing the EEG. Their password-nicking software quickly learnt which number corresponded with a specific muscle movement or "brainwave".
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