Samsung’s new flagship device touts what the company considers to be one of the most advanced and secure fingerprint scanners on the market, but it has been fooled by a 3D printed fingerprint.
Unlike other devices that rely on 2D capacitive scans, Samsung utilises ultrasonic sensors that capture the 3D contours of fingerprints making it more difficult to crack.
However, online user darkshark, revealed in an Imgur post that the ultrasonic scanner can be fooled with a simple 3D print of the owner’s fingerprint.
He took a picture of his fingerprint on a wineglass, processed the captured image into Photoshop, and made a 3D print using 3ds Max and his AnyCubic Photon LCD resin printer — accurate to approx. 10 microns.
The print took just 13 minutes to create — and three attempts to get it right — and it successfully unlocked his device.
With fingerprinting becoming increasingly the safety and security method of choice for both electronic devices and banking institutions, it looks like previously thought to be Mission Impossible tactics are now easily carried out.
“I can do this entire process in less than 3 minutes and remotely start the 3d print so that it’s done by the time I get to it,” darkshark writes in his post.
Theoretically, if someone stole a smartphone, their fingerprints will be all over the device’s screen, meaning they could unlock the device with a simple 3D print.
However, it should be noted that although the bamboozling of the device is unsettling, not everyone has a 3D printer on hand to carry out this method.
As one commenter stated, “Your finger print [sic] isn’t a password. It’s a username. Don’t use it for phones,” wise words in this age of digital insecurity.
Samsung announced last month that it is aiming to issue updates to the Galaxy S10 in-display fingerprint sensor to improve its functionality after numerous reliability complaints.
Now they can add figuring out a way to prevent 3D-printed fingerprints unlocking the device to forthcoming updates.
