Two researchers have discovered a new hacking method for smartphones that use fingerprints to protect user data.
Kai Cao and Anil K. Jain from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University have invented a very simple and fast method for spoofing fingerprints. With this method, they can unlock smartphones within 15 minutes.
The two researchers say their attack is much more effective than the one presented by the Germans of the Chaos Computer Club (C3) when the iPhone 5S was released. C3's method uses a 2.5D fingerprint made from the owner's fingerprint.
For their attack, they used a regular inkjet printer, three conductive inks, a regular black ink cartridge, and special paper.
Researchers reported that anyone can obtain the fingerprints of smartphone owners, even from stolen phones themselves.
How;
If you scan the mobile at 300 dpi, with a horizontal flip, you can then print it on the glossy side of the special Agić paper.
You cut out the fingerprint, and place it over the phone's fingerprint sensor. The phone will recognize the fingerprint and grant access to the intruder.
The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and has been successfully tested on Samsung Galaxy S6 and Huawei Honor 7 devices. The researchers reported that Samsung smartphones were very easy, while the Huawei phone required more effort.
The use of biometrics is poised to become the next big move in online security, and this particular attack serves as a reminder that fingerprint authentication is not yet reliable.
For more details, read the researchers' study:
Hacking Mobile Phones Using 2D Printed Fingerprints (PDF)
Below is the video of the attack.
