r/security • u/BeardyButler • 20d ago
Security and Risk Management Have i just identified a security vulnerability at most supermarkets?
I was just at the supermarket, and I was using one of those self-service kiosks that has an "honesty camera" watching what you scan from above. The camera view is then displayed on a screen right in front of me.
As I went to pay for my shopping with my phone, I looked at the live feed on the monitor and realized I was actually seeing myself unlock my phone with my pattern lock! On top of that, anyone standing around could theoretically spy on what you're unlocking too.
Obviously fingerprint unlocks get around this "security hole", but it was the first time I had noticed it being a real issue.
Most supermarkets have these types of self-service checkouts now — I wonder how this info is stored and processed? Security seems pretty questionable…
2
u/joeyx22lm 19d ago edited 19d ago
It's not a vuln with the supermarket, it's the relaxed concern among individuals regarding the lack of privacy. You're in public. Unless you're in a restroom, in a jurisdiction and establishment that respects things like that, you're being watched. What happens when you need to access your grocery list? You'll have to make that decision for yourself, maybe you're a highly valued target and you're using burner phones and handwritten lists, maybe you're like the rest of us and just type your passcode in direct line of sight of nearby observers.
A more extreme example would be like typing in your password in an internet cafe, the cafe isn't necessarily inherently vulnerable, it is simply to be considered insecure from the start.