How to unlock phone if you forgot Password

How to unlock phone if you forgot Password

Android lockscreen can be hacked using a simple text password: Overloading the software with long words makes it unlock


A security flaw in the latest version of Android lets hackers bypass the phone's lockscreen using a long string of text (pictured)

A security flaw in the latest version of Android is leaving millions of handsets at potential risk of criminals.

Researchers have found that entering a long string of text into the password field while the camera app is active causes the phone to crash. 

This in turn exposes the phone's homescreen and bypasses the need for a correct password.

If exploited, a hacker would then be able to access all the personal files on the phone as well as install malware to control the phone remotely.

The vulnerability was discovered by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and affects devices running Android Lollipop 5.0 and above. 

'By manipulating a sufficiently large string in the password field when the camera app is active an attacker is able to destabilise the lockscreen, causing it to crash to the home screen,' explained John Gordon in a blog post. 

'At this point arbitrary applications can be run or developer access can be enabled to gain full access to the device and expose any data contained therein.'  

According to the blog post's step-by-step instructions, users can replicate the bug by typing a selection of random characters in to the password field before selecting and copying them. 

These characters can then be pasted multiple times until the field no longer allows extra characters, which the post explained is after around 11 or so repetitions.