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

I'd slide it a finger allright...

[Zapotek]

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.

...and that would be the middle one.

IMHO it's far more complex than necessary, more cool features == more things waiting to fail.

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

[SimonInOz]

I have one of these Toshibas. The fingerprint scan works mostly - but it doesn't work very well if you are cold (maybe it thinks you are dead ... how would Spike [a vampire - info for those foolish few who don't follow Buffy] operate one of these?)
Also the software for handling the login process is pretty sucky - it's hard to handle the mail server which tends to come up with different names, etc etc. I eventually disabled it for all except the main login, which works well enough to cope with. I have done better than most - who have given in.

On a phone, it could be a pain - but at least it has to do only one thing. Entering a six digit password (as I must on my corporate Blackberry) is *very* painful, though, and a fingerprint scan would defintely be better than that.

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

[Cheetahfeathers]

Driving needs too be a phone free situation, hands free phone or not. Studies on the subject have shown that hands free phones are little better for driving than a hand held unit. http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060629_cel l_phones.html

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?

gummy bears

[MillionthMonkey]

That stuff they make gummy bears out of is great for making fake fingerprints using someone's latent print, some crazy glue, a digital camera, Photoshop, a transparency sheet, a photo-sensitive PCB, and gummy bear gelatin. You can destroy everything but the gelatin, break into a facility that uses a fingerprint reader for security, and then eat the last bit of evidence.

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!

Give him a hand?

[MarkRose]

If someone wants to chop my hand off to use my cell, well, I'll just give him the finger!

Nothing new!

[KNicolson]

My wife's phone from three years ago had one. It also incorporated a dog game/simulator, and one of the ways to make the dog happy was to get your fingerprint swiped in order to pet the dog.

Now, what is new and interesting is the 813SH for Biz which has a remote control data destruct option, or even the slightly older P903i which comes with a wireless DES dongle that locks the phone once it gets out of range.

What happens if the scanner breaks?

[antifoidulus]

I asked this at a research conference once(it was about mobile phone security as well) and the researcher, who had drawn out all these equations showing how wonderful the fingerprint security was couldn't answer me. For a device like a mobile phone that tends to get tossed around and abused a lot, I wouldn't imagine that the scanner breaking would be all that rare of an occurence. However, the researcher just said that if the fingerprint scanning device was broken, then you could use a password instead, of course this was after he spent the first 5 minutes of his presentation telling us how passwords were insecure. Assuming that passwords are insecure, wouldn't the first thing an attacker does when getting the phone be to smash the fingerprint scanner? Then what was the point?

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?