Toshiba Puts Fingerprint Readers on Cell Phones

An anonymous reader writes "As if it wasn't enough to have fingerprint scanners on laptops, Toshiba has put them on two of its latest smart phones. The Toshiba G500 and G900 feature fingerprint scanners on the back of the handsets, allowing users to access their phone by simply sliding their finger over the scanner. This is supposed to provide a better level of security than using a code of some sort. Of course it also means that someone is more likely to chop your hand off if they desperately want your data."

Comments

Better security?

[Niten]

Of course it also means that someone is more likely to chop your hand off if they desperately want your data.

More realistically, you'd also have to worry about somebody lifting your fingerprint from, say, the phone itself, then using that to log in. The MythBusters did a segment showing how easy it is to lift somebody's fingerprint, then use that print to defeat a scanner.

This thing isn't going to increase security, it's only going to increase convenience.

Re:Better security?

[sporkme]

You're absolutely right, but I would argue that it does not really even increase convenience. The last thing I need when my phone is ringing in a meeting, while driving, or at the dinner table is the horrific realization that I have forgotten to unlock the phone, and thus I must now meticulously subject myself to a fingerprint scan. Furthermore, many of us are negligent with proper care and handling of our cellphones. Until now that might result in a cracked outer screen or intermittently functioning button, but never in a total lock-out of an otherwise functional phone. So what happens when the reader is damaged? A hefty repair bill is what, and up to a month without that uber-vital super-secret data that just had to be protected with biometrics.

I have always felt that fingerprint scanning was ridiculous and cumbersome sci-fi, but real tests against this kind of security have shown that it is a waste of time and money. There is no replacement for properly managed and complicated password systems coupled with strong encryption. I regularly show friends and family how to create passwords that can be remembered but not guessed, and how to manage passwords that are outdated.

This reminds me of two prior /. stories. Bank employees merrily collected USB flashdrives that were scattered outside and proceeded to plug them into their terminals. Old cellphones purchased on eBay reveal secret data.

Re:Better security?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"This thing isn't going to increase security, it's only going to increase convenience."

Easy to defeat != no effect on security. Otherwise nobody'd lock their car doors. Afterall, it only takes a hammer to get in.

Re:Better security?

[jrumney]

The last thing I need when my phone is ringing in a meeting, while driving, or at the dinner table is the horrific realization that I have forgotten to unlock the phone

On every phone I have seen, you can answer incoming calls when the phone is locked. What you can't do is make outgoing calls, or browse through the phonebook, calendar and other personal information on the phone. I don't see any reason why this would change just because the authentication technology changed from a PIN to a fingerprint.

Nice way to get everyone's finger print on record

[Pizaz]

I mean really, what's the guarantee that your fingerprint data wont be uploaded through the network and stored in a big database somewhere?

Backdoor?

[VincenzoRomano]

Almost all phones have backdoors that can be used easily without opening the phone itself.
All of them can be "cracked" by opening the case.
Both are available for repair centers (and hackers as well).
So if someone really needs your data, he will get them, with or without your chopped finger!

Re:I'll buy one

[DrSkwid]

> The need for security is actually higher for a mobile handset than for a laptop, as they get lost far more often.

So why carry unencrypted sensitive data on them ?

Re:If it works as badly as Lenovo's...

[Dunbal]

If someone's actually willing to chop of your finger or hand, are you really going to give them a hassle about it?

      You bet.

      What, are you just going to "do what the gun says"? Your best chance is to try to get away. Who says they're not going to kill you, if they're willing to cut your finger off. Why leave a witness alive?

The Man

[Dystopian Rebel]

unless you already think that "The Man" will do what it wants, no matter what

Fortunately for democracy in the USA, The Man is strictly limited in what He can do by the Patriot Act.

Re:Severed digits

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course it also means that someone is more likely to chop your hand off if they desperately want your data.

Only if the scanner can read cold severed digits! :)

And when the guy with the big knife finds out that it can't, do you think he is going to give you back your hand?

Re:yeah

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh dear, it appears I have blundered into a ./ wanker. I was casually and civilly commenting on your sig, and you feel the need for a snide response (quoting back "surely" with extra emphasis, mentioning the "need to correct" you when I could just as easily mention your "need" to put pretentious code in your sig, doling out sarcastic "congratulations"...)

No doubt you are making some pizza-eating, no-girlfriend-having, Linux-hacking, nerdy, esoteric reference to some special binary code unavailable to ordinary mortals, but here in the relatively real world the number one is written 1 in binary, two is written 10, three is written 11, four is written 100, five is written 101, etc. Therefore, my comment was quite reasonable and your sig was non-standard. There are people who know this, and people who don't; that makes two (10) categories of people.

Re:I'd slide it a finger allright...

[HairyCanary]

If we ban hands free cell phones in cars, we might as well ban passengers too. And kids. At some point we just have to accept that personal responsibility needs to play a larger role than law.