Well, that didn’t last long. Less than 48 hours after Apple began selling its new iPhone 5s with the Touch ID fingerprint security system, someone’s managed to find a way around it.
A member of the German hacker organization Chaos Computer Club posted a video to YouTube Sunday showing one of the new iPhones being hacked with a lifted fingerprint. (Via YouTube / star bug)
Despite Apple's claims about the advanced security of the Touch ID, the CCC says Apple's sensor is just a high-res version of existing technology and can be cracked with a sharp photo of the fingerprint and a laser printer. (Via Apple)
A spokesman for the organization says the speedy hack illustrates the inherent risks of using fingerprints as a security measure and urges Apple customers to return to numeric passcodes to protect their phones.
"We hope that this finally puts to rest the illusions people have about fingerprint biometrics. It is plain stupid to use something that you can't change and that you leave everywhere every day as a security token." (Via Chaos Computer Club)
Despite the apparent simplicity of this hack, a writer for TechCrunch points out Touch ID is still a useful protection against common thieves unwilling to go to the trouble of dusting the phone for prints.
“First you need some kind of colored powder or superglue to lift the fingerprint. Then you have to scan the fingerprint, invert it and print it with a resolution of 1200dpi or more onto a transparent sheet. … If somebody is willing to go through all of this to break into your phone, chances are you have bigger issues than fingerprint security.”
Whether or not this bypass inspires Apple consumers to drop Touch ID, the CCC can at least look forward to a nice cash prize for cracking the system. Security experts Nick DePetrillo and Robert Graham have been pooling a crowdsourced bounty for the first person to bypass the iPhone fingerprint reader. (Via ZDNet)
So far the CCC stands to win an estimated $6,400, plus almost 23 bitcoins and at least nine bottles of alcohol. Oh, and a new iPhone 5c — the model without the fingerprint scanner. (Via Is Touch ID Hacked Yet?)
- See more at Newsy.com
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