Change your PIN code now, following Samsung screen spy revelation.
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Samsung Alert Impacts All iPhone And Android Users—Change Your PIN Now

06 Apr 2026, 13:41 · Yahoo Tech

Samsung has revealed that smartphone users could be leaving themselves at risk of being hacked due to one glaring issue: the number of people looking at their screens. OK, Samsung has skin in the game, what with the new Galaxy S26 Ultra privacy display feature, but even so, the fact that it has published a survey revealing 56% of strangers admit to looking at other people’s phones is concerning. Especially as 24% said they did so deliberately, not by accident. This is not just a privacy issue, but a security one. Shoulder surfing has been a criminal practice for the longest time, used to grab your ATM PIN before stealing your card and, of course, your smartphone unlock PIN for the same reason. Which is why, dear reader, you need to change your PIN now.

Following New Samsung Alert, Why Do You Need To Change Your PIN And What Should You Change It To?

While there are lots of critical security fixes that get released for users of Samsung Galaxy smartphones, one of the simplest and yet potentially most effective in terms of everyday security for the average user tends to go unnoticed. Whereas software and operating system vulnerabilities do, of course, present a real threat, the severity of the danger is often a lot less for ordinary consumers than you might imagine. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply security updates in a timely fashion, but it does mean there are others you probably ignore, leaving you exposed to much greater real-world risk. One example would be phishing attacks, such as those targeting your Gmail account. One of the aims of most such attacks against the consumer, as opposed to high-value targets such as journalists, politicians and industry executives, is to gain access to your accounts. Gaining access to your phone is one of the easiest ways to do so, as it can unlock a lot of data. Especially if the attacker has your smartphone unlock PIN.

According to the April 2 Samsung alert, which came in the form of the results of a survey of European smartphone users, your screen really isn’t as private as you might imagine. And don’t be fooled into thinking this only involves Europe: I can assure you that the issue is just as serious for U.S. users as previous reports have confirmed, and anywhere else in the world, for that matter. “This happens particularly often on public transport,” the alert confirmed, “which 57% cite as the place where screens are most likely to be viewed by third parties.” But the truth is, it can happen anywhere, at any time. Which is why I recommend that you change your smartphone PIN right now, especially if you are using a short-code.

As well as the shoulder-surfing risk, there are also lists of vulnerable PIN codes for criminals to use. There are two things I would, therefore, suggest to mitigate this risk, and neither involves buying a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra with that privacy display feature. If you want to go down that route, you can get privacy screen protectors, which help a bit, but if an attacker is standing immediately behind you, they do nothing. Instead, I suggest you first change your PIN code to something other than a four-digit one. Mine is ten digits, and I can easily remember that. You can go up to 16 digits on both Android and iOS if you want maximum security in numbers. The more numbers, the harder it is for someone to note them all when you are using the PIN keyboard. Harder, but not impossible by any stretch. So my second recommendation should also apply: if you are not doing so already, change to biometric unlock, be it face or finger, for your lock screen. Now, you only have to use your PIN on rare occasions, vastly reducing the potential for any shoulder-surfing attacker. And they can’t steal your face just by looking at your phone.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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