Look out! PINs and passwords can be stolen at the tilt of a phone

So we're all pretty accustomed to seeing smart phones around the place, but now scientists have discovered that people are so finely in tune with their devices that they can guess other peoples pins and pass codes. 

New research from Newcastle University shows that watching how a phone moves when it is being held can give away what is being typed into it.

Websites can spy on the phones movements thanks to the sensory technology in the device.

Researchers were able to decipher a phone password just by watching how the phone tilts. The subjects had a 70 per cent accuracy on the first guess, and 100 per cent by the fifth guess, which is pretty scary.

This information could easily be used by malicious websites and hackers to gain personal information such as bank details and codes. 

"Most smart phones, tablets, and other wearables are now equipped with a multitude of sensors, from the well-known GPS, camera and microphone to instruments such as the gyroscope, proximity, NFC, and rotation sensors and accelerometer," said Maryam Mehrnezhad, researcher at Newcastle University.

"But because mobile apps and websites don't need to ask permission to access most of them, malicious programmes can covertly 'listen in' on your sensor data and use it to discover a wide range of sensitive information about you such as phone call timing, physical activities and even your touch actions, PINs and passwords."

This sensory tech can be accessed by malicious apps, which often don't even have to ask for permission to access it. 

And if these apps are left running in the background, they can watch your movements and even see what you are typing in as you use your smart phone for other things.