The Galaxy S8 iris scanner can be hacked with aging techMay 24, 2017 - 11:12 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Biometrics are becoming our next de facto security measure, and they're supposed to be a vast improvement on easily-forgotten and hackable passwords. Yet a point-and-shoot camera, laser printer and contact lens is all it took for German hacking group Chaos Computer Club to crack the Samsung Galaxy S8's iris scanner. "By far [the] most expensive part of the iris biometry hack was the purchase of the Galaxy S8," the group wrote on its website, according to Engadget. They pulled it off by taking a photo of the target from about five meters away, and printing a close-up of the eye on a laser printer — made by Samsung, no less. A regular contact lens was placed on top of the print to replicate the curve of an eyeball. When the print was held up to the smartphone, the S8 unlocked. "The security risk to the user from iris recognition is even bigger than with fingerprints as we expose our irises a lot," said Dirk Engling, spokesperson for the group, which previously hacked the iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor using photos of a glass surface. "Under some circumstances, a high-resolution picture from the internet is sufficient to capture an iris." Biometric security is taking off, particularly with the rise of mobile payments. Mastercard has rolled out "selfie pay" in Europe, while Australia has introduced facial recognition to replace passports in airports, and Chinese ride-share company Didi helps passengers verify their driver's identity using face scanning. Sci-fi has told us that iris scans are so accurate you'd need to cut out someone's eyes to fool them. But the disappointing reality so far is that stuff a hacker could rummage for on Craigslist is probably good enough, Engadget said. Photo: Chaos Computer Club Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |