Google Glass poses threat to user privacy

Google Glass poses security threats as the wearable computer developed by the search giant does not have any PIN or authentication system, hackers have revealed.

Hackers may be able to exploit Google Glass' ' root capability', which is enabled by attaching it to a desktop computer and running some commands, allowing them to access the user's information, the Guardian reports.

The report said that hackers will also be able to monitor Google Glass' users' activities on their smartphones as a Santa Barbara-based programmer, specializing in cracking smartphone security for both iPhone and Android devices, Jay Freeman has discovered.

Freeman said that once hackers are able to access the root on the Glass, then they are likely to have access to the user's phone and computer as well as a camera or microphone and can see or hear everything the use is looking at or listening to.

According to the report, Google Glass' hackers are also capable of knowing computer and Smartphone passwords, door codes and even writings on a piece of paper.

Freeman also recommended that Glass should have a protection system that functions when it is taken off by the owner, such as a biometric which either uses patterns in the iris or voice or a PIN, adding that a plastic shield that could slide over the camera would mean that the user is not recording anything, thereby serving the privacy concerns.

While Freeman warned that a hacker would only need 10 minutes to install a 'rooted' version of the software that Glass uses as Google Glass, unlike Android phones does not have any kind of PIN mechanism, which renders it usable once the users switch it on, Google spokesperson insists that the company gives priority to device-specific protections and solution experimenting that make the Glass widely available, the report added.