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New Data: Android Lock Patterns Are More Predictable

August 24, 2015

There’s been a lot written about the use of strong passwords and passphrases. One of the keys is the complexity and length of the password. We should be using upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers and even symbols. We should also be using complex patterns when locking Android devices. New data shows that humans are a lot more predictable when selecting Android lock patterns. Many people select a pattern that represents a letter such as L, S, C, N, O or M. Bad, bad, bad. That’s the equivalent of using 1234 as a password. The more nodes you use for your pattern the better. Of the nine available nodes, most users only have a pattern that uses 4 or 5 nodes. Interestingly, 8 nodes is the most unpopular number for patterns.

Besides the predictability of guessing an Android lock pattern, your fingers leave oil on the screen to aid in the pattern discovery process. I’ve never been a big fan of lock patterns and believe we are better off using complex passwords to protect our mobile devices.

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