Iris scanner Samsung Galaxy S8 can be easily fooled (actually no)

Far in 2013, the German hackers from Chaos Computer Club (CCC) was able to bypass the security of Touch ID in the iPhone 5S with photos of the finger. When Samsung introduced a flagship smartphone with a more reliable scanner iris, enthusiasts took up the challenge and set out to crack the new sensor. They succeeded, although it was not as simple as a facial recognition system.

Three steps to the goal

The first thing you need to implement the venture, is a camera that can shoot in the infrared range. “Hackers” took an old Sony camera with night shot mode (will fit any model without IR-filter) and photographed the owner of Samsung Galaxy S8 so that the picture was clearly visible to the eye. Then the image of an iris printed on a laser printer (the authors wryly noted that the best result they managed to get the printer Samsung). Since the system is not fool-see image to the iris pattern put the normal contact lens and showed a photo of the smartphone. Unlock was successful.

The CCC representative Dirk Engling noted that for the protection of personal data and make purchases better to use a traditional PIN. However, trite it easier to spy and scientists already know how to read the magic number at the heat signature. And don’t forget to cover the screen by hand, if you use a graphical key.

Review Samusng

According to representatives of Samsung, the described scenario is unlikely in real life. For breaking the scanner of the iris need a high-quality photo of the iris with IR camera, contact lenses, and the smartphone itself. The company is confident in the reliability of technology, so it can be used in particular when making purchases through the Apple system Pay (also supported by authentication by fingerprint or pin code).

Sources: CCC, Korea Herald