Dalmatians have dots, and so should your screen when you enter your password. Those dots help prevent screen recordings from capturing your passwords.

If you have malware on your phone, tablet, or computer, it could be recording images of your screen as you type. If the malware can only see dots, your password is safe from “shoulder surfers” looking at your screen from thousands of miles away.

Additionally, if you use language translation or other browser plug-ins that read your screen, your browsers could be “reading” the text on your screen. If web applications or websites display your actual password, it might get transmitted to strangers without you realizing it.

It can be frustrating not to see your password as you type, but there is a good reason beyond knowing the person next to you isn’t watching your screen.

For information about preventing malware on your systems, please visit the Foster Institute Blog at fosterinstitute.com/blog