Two researchers discovered a new method of hacking smartphones that use fingerprints to protection of the user's data.
Kai Cao and Anil K. Jain from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University invented a very simple and fast method of forging fingerprints. With this particular method, they can unlock smartphones within 15 minutes.
The two researchers say their assault is far more effective than the one introduced by the Germans of the Chaos Computer Club (C3) when the iPhone 5S was released. The C3 method uses an 2.5D footprint made by 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 have said that everyone can get the fingerprints of smartphone owners, even from the stolen mobiles themselves.
How;
If you scan the mobile to 300 dpi with a horizontal flip, then you can print it on the glossy side of the Agić special paper.
Cut the fingerprint, and place it above the fingerprint sensor of the phone. The phone will recognize the fingerprint and give access to the attacker.
The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and has been successfully tested on Samsung Galaxy S6 and Huawei Hornor 7 devices. The researchers reported that Samsung's smartphones were very easy, while Huawei's phone needed more effort.
The use of biometrics is poised to become the next big move for online better safety, and this specific attack comes to remind us, that the system fingerprint authentication, not yet reliable.
For more details, read the study of researchers:
Hacking Mobile Phones Using 2D Printed Fingerprints (PDF)
Below is the attack video.
