Categories
Close
Menu
Menu
Close
Search
Search

Featured Articles

RSS
123

Opinion Articles

Opinion

Catherine Zeta-Jones and the security of touchscreen passwords

Mark

Share:

Print

Rate article:

No rating
Rate this article:
No rating

Mark Bridge writes:

I knew I’d seen it before. Towards the end of last week I read about a study from the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania that said it was pretty easy to identify passwords from smudges on touchscreen mobile phones.

We discussed it in this morning’s edition of The Fonecast and I mentioned that I was sure I’d seen something similar in film. Well, I’ve been doing some checking online and I’ve confirmed my suspicions. The 1999 movie Entrapment, which starred Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, includes a scene where the pair attempt to break into the ‘International Clearance Bank’ at the top of the Petronas Towers.

They reveal a number of fingerprints on a Dataton touch-sensitive panel and quickly conclude the passphrase is ‘Don't use a cannon to kill a mosquito’.

Entrapment touch-screen passphrase

As for my reference to Ms Zeta-Jones’s bottom; if you’ve not seen the film, there's a scene where the actress climbs through a 'net' of laser beams that many cinemagoers were particularly fond of. Take a look at the film trailer if you're still not sure what I'm talking about.

 

Comments

Collapse Expand Comments (0)
You don't have permission to post comments.

Recent Podcasts

ExclusivePodcast - 24th August 2011

It's another big news week for the mobile industry. HP is dropping its webOS phones and tablets, Skype is buying a mobile messaging company, Symbian introduces 'Anna' and RIM has three new sociable BlackBerry devices.

ExclusivePodcast - 19th August 2011

It's becoming increasingly important for companies to keep records of mobile phone calls and text messages - and in some cases it's also a legal requirement. In this week's podcast, Ian Hook from Compliant Phones explains the challenges and reveals the answers.

ExclusivePodcast - 17th August 2011

There's big news this week as Google announces plans to buy Motorola Mobility, Apple gets Samsung's new tablet banned and HTC invests in audio technology.

ExclusivePodcast - 12th August 2011

A few years ago, VoIP – the ability to make calls over the internet - promised to change the way mobile phones were used. Tanveer Sharif, CEO and co-founder of international call service Vopium, joins us this week to talk about the subject.

ExclusivePodcast - 10th August 2011

This week's podcast covers Ofcom's survey into 'smartphone addiction' and the rest of the UK's top mobile industry headlines, from new BlackBerry devices to anti-Android hostility.

RSS
First4748495052545556Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Archive Calendar

«June 2026»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293012345

Archive