iPhone 5S Fingerprint Censor Can Be Hacked

[dlevere]

By Michael Allen, Sun, September 22, 2013

The new iPhone 5S has received tons of press for its high-tech fingerprint sensor, the TouchID, which is supposed to keep the gadget safely locked, except for the phone's registered users.

However, the Chaos Computer Club recently announced on their website that they figured out how to bypass the TouchID.

They also posted a video (below) on YouTube to document their successful hack, notes The Guardian.

First, the Chaos Computer Club photographed (high resolution, 2400 pixel-per-inch) a fingerprint of the authorized iPhone 5S user from a glass surface.

The fingerprint was made visible on the glass with graphite powder or an ingredient of superglue.

Then the digital photograph was printed onto a plastic slide using a laser printer. The plastic slide was attached to the finger of an unauthorized user, who was able to unlock the iPhone 5S.

The Chaos Computer Club wrote:

"This demonstrates – again – that fingerprint biometrics is unsuitable as access control method and should be avoided. Apple had released the new iPhone with a fingerprint sensor that was supposedly much more secure than previous fingerprint technology. A lot of bogus speculation about the marvels of the new technology and how hard to defeat it supposedly is had dominated the international technology press for days.

Apple has not issued a statement about the hack.

Sources: CCC.de, The Guardian, YouTube

[dlevere]

Apple's TouchID Fingerprint Scanner: Still Hackable

Posted by Soulskill

electronic convict writes:

"A year ago, security researcher Marc Rogers demonstrated how to spoof the TouchID sensor in the iPhone 5S using some Elmer's glue and glycerol — oh, and a high resolution camera and a laser printer.

Has TouchID security improved at all on the iPhone 6? Not really, Rogers reports in his latest post, in which he again hacks the iPhone 6's TouchID sensors using the same method as before.

"Fake fingerprints created using my previous technique were able to readily fool both devices [the 6 and the 5S]," he reports.

Rogers, however, says there's no reason to panic, as the attack requires substantial skill, patience and a good clear fingerprint.

As he writes: "We use locks on our doors to keep criminals out not because they are perfect, but because they are both convenient and effective enough to meet most traditional threats."