Soon Change Your Password with Your Thoughts

You may be spared from typing pesky passwords in the future! 

Instead of typing your password, you may only have to think about it, thanks to a new wireless headset device developed by researchers. 

Remembering passwords for all your sites can get annoying. There are only so many punctuation, number substitutes and uppercase variations you can recall, and writing them down for all to find is hardly an option. 

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley School of Information developed the device that explores the feasibility of brainwave-based computer authentication as a substitute for passwords. 

By measuring brain-waves with bio-sensor technology, researchers are able to replace passwords with "passthoughts" for computer authentication, website 'Mashable' reported. 

A USD 100 headset wireless connects to a computer via Bluetooth, and the device's sensor rests against the user's forehead, providing a electroencephalogram (EEG) signal from the brain. 

The NeuroSky Mindset looks just like any other Bluetooth set and is more user-friendly, researchers said. 

Brainwaves are also unique to each individual, so even if someone knew your passthought, their emitted EEG signals would be different. 

"Other than the EEG sensor, the headset is indistinguishable from a conventional Bluetooth headset for use with mobile phones, music players, and other computing devices," according to the researchers. 

Participants, in a series of tests, completed seven different mental tasks with the device, including imagining their finger moving up and down and choosing a personalized secret, the report said. 

Simple actions like focusing on breathing or on a thought for ten seconds resulted in successful authentication. 

"We find that brainwave signals, even those collected using low-cost non-intrusive EEG sensors in everyday settings, can be used to authenticate users with high degrees of accuracy," the researchers concluded.

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Know the Bad Guys of Internet

Because of users’ various connections and sharing habits, the Internet has become a social hub similar to a virtual neighborhood. However, not everyone on the Internet wants to socialize and create connections. There are people out there who craft online threats designed to steal your precious information, like your email address, social security details, credit card and banking credentials. These are the guys who are out to make a quick buck.

With millions of users going online every second, the Internet isn’t exactly the safest place to be. In light of this, have you ever asked yourself: how much do I know about my virtual neighbors?

Make no mistake about it: cyber-criminals are out there lurking around your online neighborhood. They may pretend to be a trusted contact, a well-known vendor, or even a new friend you made online.

For example, a social media scammer will have following characters.

Motive: Steal your social media login credentials

Modus Operandi: Spam the social media account with links to malicious videos, apps and promos.

Famous Line: "OMG! This is so FUNNY"

The attackers can vary from phishers, fake anti-virus creators, App trojanizers, spammers and Malvertisers.

The infographic also has details on how much money the cyber criminals make from stolen data in black market. They will get $15 for 1000 Facebook accounts, $8 for 1000 web mail accounts, $75 for 2200 Twitter accounts.

The price of credit card number will range from $1 to $10 depending on the regions. A hacker gets $1 to $3 for a U.S. credit card number while an Asian or Middle East credit card details will earn him $6 to $10. 

"The difference in value can be accounted for supply and demand", said Rik Ferguson, director of security at Trend Micro. "Security mechanisms for U.S. cards are, in general, much lower than European ones, Chip and PIN, for example, is hardly deployed at all in the U.S, which will make the work easy for criminals", he explained. 

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