TechTheDay

The fingerprint scanner attached to Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and other Samsung mobile devices is at risk of being defeated with a US case worth $3.46– but the tech giant is already taking steps to resolve it.

The fingerprint security bug

This unfortunate news was reported by The Sun that interviewed a British couple who found out about the bug. According to the report, the wife discovered the bug after she placed her Samsung Galaxy S10 in a low-rate silicon case that enclosed the back and front part of the phone. His husband borrowed it and was able to unlock the phone without any problem, even though his fingerprint wasn’t saved on it.

Samsung then released a statement regarding this horrifying news and said that they were aware of the problem and will develop a solution to address this soon. The company also added that the issue might be due to the fingerprint scanner that was able to identify the fingerprint imprinted on the silicone phone case. It’s not yet clear which models have this issue, but ever since S10, S10+ and the Note 10 utilize the same in-display, ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, it might be possible that they are all affected by the same problem. 

Scanner problems

This is just one of the many issues that are associated with the fingerprint scanners of Samsung mobile devices. Last April, it was found out that the scanners can be unlocked using a 3D-printed fingerprint. The problem is severe enough that it triggers the KaKaobank in South Korea to discourage their customers from using the fingerprint scanner of S10 until the bug is resolved. In addition, the customer support of Samsung said that there are third-party screen protectors that can treat patterns of plastic or glass as a fingerprint of the owner. They still don’t know if the reason behind this came from the residue on the plastic or glass.

Earlier this year, Samsung spoke highly of the security and precision of the Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner of the Galaxy S10; however, the in-display scanner has been bombed with problems ever since the launch. It was claimed that the biometric security reader delivers ultrasounds to identify 3D ridges of the fingerprint for more precise and speedy phone unlocking mechanism since it is the pioneer of this type of spec. There is no further information on when the bug will be fixed, but until then, customers are highly-suggested to utilize another security method.

Fixing issues

Even if you’ve never tried using a case on any of your Samsung phones, you should still be wary of this problem. In addition, the spokesperson of Samsung already released a statement to The Sun that they are suggesting that customers should only utilize authorized accessories from Samsung until the issue is still not fixed.

If it only takes a low-bargain plastic case to hack the security of Samsung’s fingerprint scanners, there may also be other bugs that can ruin the safety of Samsung phones.