shoulder surfing
Spying on screens
Shoulder surfing is the practice of spying on someone's screen or keypad to steal sensitive information—passwords, PINs, or private messages.
The term evokes someone literally peering over your shoulder: Cover the keypad so nobody can shoulder surf your PIN.
It happens at ATMs, on public transit, in coffee shops—anywhere screens are visible to bystanders.
Secretly investigating others
- spyingSecretly observing others
- eavesdroppingSecretly listening to others
- pryingIntrusively inquisitive
- watchingActively looking at something
observing · monitoring · peering · lurking · glancing · peeking · stealthy · covert
Stealing login credentials
- identity theftStealing personal data criminally
- credential theftUnauthorized acquisition of authentication data
- data breachUnauthorized access to protected information
- phishingFraudulent credential harvesting
social engineering · hacking · ATM fraud · credit card fraud · account takeover · keylogger · skimming · information theft
Display confidentiality guard
- screen filterPanel covering electronic displays
- screen guardDevice display covering
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
- shieldingProtecting from harm
angling · biometrics · facial recognition · fingerprint login · two-factor authentication · vigilance · screen dimming · privacy settings
snooping
Secretly investigating others
- spyingSecretly observing others
- eavesdroppingSecretly listening to others
- pryingIntrusively inquisitive
watching · observing · monitoring · peering · lurking · glancing · peeking · stealthy · covert · unauthorized
password theft
Stealing login credentials
- identity theftStealing personal data criminally
- credential theftUnauthorized acquisition of authentication data
- data breachUnauthorized access to protected information
phishing · social engineering · hacking · ATM fraud · credit card fraud · account takeover · keylogger · skimming · information theft · confidentiality breach
privacy screen
Display confidentiality guard
- screen filterPanel covering electronic displays
- screen guardDevice display covering
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
shielding · angling · biometrics · facial recognition · fingerprint login · two-factor authentication · vigilance · screen dimming · privacy settings
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- cyber threatsmalware, phishing, hacking, virus, ransomware
- privacy violationsinvasion of privacy, data breach, privacy invasion, privacy breach, eavesdropping
- ATM crimesskimming, card skimming, card cloning, shimming, pinhole camera
- hackinghacker, exploit, hacking, dictionary attack, backdoor
- Security Attackshacking, intrusion, phishing, spoofing, brute force
shoulder surfingprivacy screen
Display confidentiality guard
screen guard · privacy filter · two-factor authentication · biometric authentication · encryption
shoulder surfinghacking
Infiltrating protected digital systems
cyber espionage · network intrusion · phishing · keylogging · malware attack
shoulder, shoulders, shouldered, shouldering, surf, surfs, surfed, surfing, surfer