The most secure way to lock your phone, revealed

People should stop using patterns to unlock their devices, researchers have warned. A new study has found that it's a lot easier for people who might be looking over your shoulder as you unlock your phone to memorise a pattern than a passcode. So-called "shoulder surfing attacks" can be easy for a criminal to plan and execute, but you can protect yourself by switching to a PIN code and increasing its length from four digits to six, the researchers say. They got over 1,000 volunteers to act as attackers, challenging them to memorise a range of unlocking authentications – four- and six-digit PINs, and four- and six-length pa tterns with and without tracing lines – by watching a victim over their shoulder from a variety of angles. The 5-inch Nexus 5 and 6-inch OnePlus One were the two handsets used in the study, as the researchers say they "are similar to a wide variety of displays and form factors available on the market today, for both Android and iPhone".