Security Research Labs, a group of Berlin-based security researchers, have uncovered a bug in the new iPhone that it claims will enable hackers to overcome a safeguard allowing users to remotely wipe stolen or lost phones.
More specifically, the team has discovered a method for bypassing the handset's security features. It starts with activating Airplane mode, which gives potential criminals time to create fake fingerprints and reset passwords....
Of course it was just a matter of time. As always, Apple wasn't first to market, but it was the first to make fingerprint sensors a popular technology that will be used in many future devices. This shift is happening barely two weeks after the iPhone 5s launched. Can't innovate my ass!
But six months from now Barrett says he will be able to choose from the latest Android models that will come equipped with a biometric sensor capable of letting him swipe his fingerprint to access a wide range of his online accounts.
That's the scenario being proactively pursued by the FIDO Alliance, a group of 48 tech companies, led by PayPal and Lenovo, hustling to implement a milestone technical standard.
Read the full article on USA Today (via The Verge)
Now that Apple has launched its long-rumored fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s, the next big question is: when will it make it into the iPad? A recent leak indicates we may see it in the new iPad mini this year, but what about the iPad 5?
While there's no way to concretely answer this question until Apple unveils the tablet, a new video hit the web yesterday that aims to provide some insight. Apparently the 5s' Touch ID Home button fits perfectly in a front panel for an iPad 5...
In his review of the iPhone 5s, MG Siegler hits the nail on the head about the ridiculousness of the Touch ID pseudo hacking:
In the least surprising news of the year, hackers have already been attacking the security of the feature and have found some ways to get around it. Newsflash: the only way to have a truly, 100 percent secure smartphone is to not have one at all. Touch ID still seems like a significant security upgrade over the most-used alternative: nothing.
You can read Siegler's full "non review review" of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s here.
While it's still unclear if the next-gen iPad mini will sport a Retina display, it seems that it will feature a Touch ID Home button and gold color option. That is, if this pair of leaked photos showing the alleged tablet are to be believed.
The above image, and one we've posted right after the break, surfaced on Chinese site DoNews this morning. And as you can see, they show what appears to be a 7.9-inch iPad with a gold-colored shell and Apple's new fingerprint sensor...
Despite its unreal size, Samsung of South Korea is an extremely agile company, one that moves at a blistering pace. The conglomerate has been called many things and is perhaps best-known as a fast-follower. The press attached that nickname to the Samsung brand due to the company's ability to swiftly apply what others are doing to its own lineup and flood the market with countless products with small variations to them.
For example, Samsung announced its own gold Galaxy S4 variants merely two weeks following Apple's September 10 iPhone 5s/5c keynote. And just 48 hours into Apple's double iPhone announcement, Samsung co-CEO Kim Yoo-chul was quick to confirm his company's next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality, even if “not in the shortest time".
But now, Samsung has incomprehensibly decided to sit on the sidelines and watch instead how this fingerprint scanning thing on mobile unfolds...
One of the features of Touch ID is the ability to capture and save up to 5 different fingerprints. This not only allows you to unlock your iPhone with both of your hands, but it also allows you to give multiple users access.
Try to save a sixth fingerprint, however, and you'll find you're unable to—the option to add a new fingerprint gets disabled after 5 saves. That is, unless you use this little workaround to register multiple prints to each save...
Over the weekend, a group of hackers called the Chaos Computer Club announced that it had managed to bypass Apple's Touch ID system using the popular 'fake finger' method involving a hi-res photograph, and pink latex milk.
As you'd expect, the announcement has caused quite a commotion, and has a lot of folks concerned. But according to security expert Marc Rogers, they shouldn't be. He says the average consumer has nothing to worry about...
A group of German hackers called the Chaos Computer Club has reportedly figured out a way to bypass Apple's new Touch ID fingerprint sensor using a variation of the long-running 'fake finger' technique.
The method involves taking a high resolution photo of the original user's fingerprint, printing it on a transparent sheet with a thick toner setting, and then filling it in with pink latex milk. Here, watch the video...
What are the privacy implications of the iPhone 5s fingerprint sensor? U.S. Senator Al Franken wants Apple CEO Tim Cook to answer that question and more. In a published letter to Cook, Franken writes that "important questions remain about how this technology works." In addition, the senator wants the Apple chief to explain how the Touch ID sensor may be used in the future.
In response, Apple published online a document explaining that fingerprints obtained by the new iPhone 5s are walled-off from the iOS software and application developers...
Far and away, the most compelling upgrade worthy feature on the new iPhone 5s is the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor. It was a feature that was rumored for many months, and today the general public can finally see what all of the fuss is about.
I've been putting the Touch ID sensor, which rests inside of the iPhone 5s' redesigned Home button, through its paces all morning. I've come away extremely impressed — not only with its ease of setup, but with its uncompromising accuracy.
After using it for a while, it's readily apparent that this is not something that Apple hastily put into the iPhone 5s. This isn't your father's fingerprint sensor. Touch ID is a feature that Apple has meticulously meshed into the iPhone to make one transparent and cohesive experience. And it just works.
As new iPhones launch today, Apple has flipped the switch on an iOS 7 0.1 update to fix a minor issue with the iPhone 5s's Touch ID fingerprint sensor while delivering "bug fixes and improvements". The maintenance firmware update is exclusive to the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and users will be prompted to install it upon booting up their brand spanking new device. The software isn't available for iPhones other than the new ones. I've included additional tidbits after the jump..