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Another Reason NOT to Use a Fingerprint to Unlock Your Phone

October 17, 2019

Using a fingerprint to unlock your phone is certainly a lot faster and easier than typing in a password or PIN. There is a reason not to configure a fingerprint to unlock your phone. You may be compelled to unlock your phone using biometrics, but generally not if the device is locked with a password or PIN. The legal thinking is that a PIN or password is knowledge whereas biometrics is something you have. As many readers know, I have always recommended only using a password or PIN to unlock your phone.

Hot For Security reports that biometrics is not a good idea, especially if you own a Samsung Galaxy S10 phone. It is alleged that the fingerprint sensor on a Galaxy S10 can be bypassed with any finger just by using a cheap gel screen protector. Ouch! This is not the first time vulnerabilities with smartphone fingerprint implementations have been identified. The iPhone has suffered its share of fingerprint bypasses too. The technology is getting better, but this is another example of why not to trust fingerprints to unlock your phone.

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