Through the Frosted Glass: Security Problems in a Translucent UI

Translucency is now a common design element in at least one popular mobile operating system. This raises security concerns as it can make it harder for users to correctly identify and interpret trusted interaction elements. In this paper, we demonstrate this security problem using the example of the Safari browser in the latest iOS version on Apple tablets and phones (iOS7), and discuss technical challenges of an attack as well as solutions to these challenges. We conclude with a survey-based user study, where we seek to quantify the security impact, and find that further investigation is warranted.