Potential Security Flaw with Fingerprint ID on Cellphones
- WPXI May 16th, 2017
- Source: http://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/tonight-at-5-potential-security-flaw-with-fingerprint-id-on-cellphones/522996419
A thumbprint may seem simpler and more secure than a passcode or password.
But one of the nation's top computer scientists says he has discovered a security flaw with the kind of fingerprint identification technology often used to lock cellphones.
We traveled to New York University to interview engineering professor Nasir Memon, who says he has found a way to use synthetic fingerprints to trick touch identification systems.
"We found (finger)prints that can match 20, 30, 40 percent of the time," Memon said.
Cellphone readers are not looking at the entirety of a fingerprint.
