It sounds like a scene from a James Bond movie but Tencent Security’s X-Lab successfully demonstrated how to break into a smartphone with fingerprint scanners under 20 minutes.
Most people prefer smartphones with a fingerprint sensor as a safety measure. But apparently, it is not as safe as you think. Fingerprints you left on a drinking glass may let some hackers to fool your smartphone.
Just 20 minutes
Tencent Security’s X-Lab team was able to break into three smartphones. Team’s leader Chen Yu snapped a photo of the fingerprints on glass and ran it through their app to extract the fingerprint data. The team also claims that extracting the fingerprint data is even easier from your phone’s glass. The data was used to create a physical version under 20 minutes.
The hardware that is used for this method only costs around $140. The team could crack an ultrasonic fingerprint, capacitance, and optical sensors. Chen from the X-Lab team also says that if you wipe the surface that you touched recently, you eliminate the risk.