Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have demonstrated that fingerprints exist within smartphone sensors because of imperfections during the hardware manufacturing process. The researchers focused on the accelerometer, which tracks three-dimensional movements of the phone, but the findings suggest other sensors could leave equally unique fingerprints. When hardware is manufactured, the factory cannot produce the identical result in millions of units, and the imperfections create fingerprints, according to UIUC professor Romit Roy Choudhury. However, he notes the fingerprints are only visible when accelerometer data signals are analyzed in detail. Most applications do not require this level of analysis, but the data shared with all applications still holds the fingerprints, and if a cybercriminal wanted to perform the necessary analysis, they could do so. To read further, please visit http://www.ece.illinois.edu/mediacenter/article.asp?id=7897.