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Fingerprint-Protected Phones Vulnerable To Inkjet Attack (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Two researchers have come up with a new method of hacking smartphones that use fingerprint biometrics to protect and lock the user's data. Their method only needs a regular inkjet printer, three AgIC silver conductive ink cartridges, a normal black ink cartridge, and special AgIC paper. The entire attack takes no more than 15 minutes. Current tests only included a Samsung Galaxy S6 and a Huawei Hornor 7. The researchers said that while the Samsung was easy to crack, the Huawei phone needed more tries.
We keep seeing this over and over again with bio-metric "security". Bio-metrics are not passwords, and should never have been considered as passwords. Bio-metrics are USER ID's, nothing more. They only identify individual users, they do not authenticate them.
If it had worked on an iPhone, the headline would've said "iPhone fingerprint sensor easily defeated with an inkjet printer". The Android phones wouldn't have been mentioned until page two or three of the article.
#DeleteChrome
They do not just trounce Apple in sales, but often in specs as well. But in terms of profits, Apple solidly beats them. Still, I think the main reason that the press is more interested in Apple is simply because the public is. They still perceive them as the premium brand that sets the yardstick and is more secure than the others. "Huawei Horror 7 fingerprint scanner defeated" will not garner nearly as many eyeballs as "iPhone fingerprint scanner unsafe!" in the tech press, and an article about broken Android security would not even run in the mainstream press.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Please learn how to read.