At the Black Hat conference on Wednesday, researchers revealed that fingerprint sensors on Android phones are vulnerable to hackers.
Wiping your fingerprints won't do you any good in this day and age. During the Black Hat conference on Wednesday, security researchers presented findings that reveal hackers can remotely obtain fingerprints from Android devices that use biometric sensors.
At the moment, FireEye scientists Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang say the threat is specific to Android smartphones that use a fingerprint sensor, which limits the number of vulnerable devices. Though companies like Samsung, Huawei, and HTC currently produce Android devices with those sensors, Apple still has a significant hold on the market. Its Touch ID sensor has proven to be more secure because it encrypts data gleaned from the scanner.
Wiping your fingerprints won't do you any good in this day and age. During the Black Hat conference on Wednesday, security researchers presented findings that reveal hackers can remotely obtain fingerprints from Android devices that use biometric sensors.
At the moment, FireEye scientists Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang say the threat is specific to Android smartphones that use a fingerprint sensor, which limits the number of vulnerable devices. Though companies like Samsung, Huawei, and HTC currently produce Android devices with those sensors, Apple still has a significant hold on the market. Its Touch ID sensor has proven to be more secure because it encrypts data gleaned from the scanner.
"Even if the attacker can directly read the sensor, without obtaining the crypto key, [the attacker] still cannot get the fingerprint image," Zhang told ZDNet.
Android users, however, are not so lucky: The researchers detected four methods of attack, the most disconcerting of which could remotely hack the sensor and steal any fingerprint that it encounters. Called the "fingerprint sensor spying attack," it would allow a hacker to continuously use fingerprint data however they please. Wei and Zhang tested the hack on the HTC One Max and Samsung's Galaxy S5 phones.
By 2019, industry watchers predict that more than half of smartphones will have fingerprint sensors—which means phone makers must improve their device security.
Our fingerprints might not be as safe as we think they are.
New research, set to be announced at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, by FireEye researchers Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang outlined new ways to attack Android devices to extract user fingerprints.
The threat is for now confined mostly to Android devices that have fingerprint sensors, such as Samsung, Huawei, and HTC devices, which by volume remains low compared to iPhone shipments. But down the line by 2019, where it's believed that at least half of all smartphone shipments will have a fingerprint sensor, the threat deepens.
Of the four attacks outlined by the researchers, one in particular -- dubbed the "fingerprint sensor spying attack" -- can "remotely harvest fingerprints in a large scale," Zhang told ZDNet by email.
The attack, which was confirmed on the HTC One Max and Samsung's Galaxy S5, allows a hacker to stealthily acquire a fingerprint image from an affected device because device makers don't fully lock down the sensor.
Making matters worse, the sensor on some devices is only guarded by the "system" privilege instead of root, making it easier to target. (In other words: rooting or jailbreaking your phone can leave you at a greater risk.) Once the attack is in place, the fingerprint sensor can continue to quietly collect fingerprint data on anyone who uses the sensor.
Android users, however, are not so lucky: The researchers detected four methods of attack, the most disconcerting of which could remotely hack the sensor and steal any fingerprint that it encounters. Called the "fingerprint sensor spying attack," it would allow a hacker to continuously use fingerprint data however they please. Wei and Zhang tested the hack on the HTC One Max and Samsung's Galaxy S5 phones.
By 2019, industry watchers predict that more than half of smartphones will have fingerprint sensors—which means phone makers must improve their device security.
Our fingerprints might not be as safe as we think they are.
New research, set to be announced at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, by FireEye researchers Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang outlined new ways to attack Android devices to extract user fingerprints.
The threat is for now confined mostly to Android devices that have fingerprint sensors, such as Samsung, Huawei, and HTC devices, which by volume remains low compared to iPhone shipments. But down the line by 2019, where it's believed that at least half of all smartphone shipments will have a fingerprint sensor, the threat deepens.
Of the four attacks outlined by the researchers, one in particular -- dubbed the "fingerprint sensor spying attack" -- can "remotely harvest fingerprints in a large scale," Zhang told ZDNet by email.
The attack, which was confirmed on the HTC One Max and Samsung's Galaxy S5, allows a hacker to stealthily acquire a fingerprint image from an affected device because device makers don't fully lock down the sensor.
Making matters worse, the sensor on some devices is only guarded by the "system" privilege instead of root, making it easier to target. (In other words: rooting or jailbreaking your phone can leave you at a greater risk.) Once the attack is in place, the fingerprint sensor can continue to quietly collect fingerprint data on anyone who uses the sensor.
"In this attack, victims' fingerprint data directly fall into attacker's hand. For the rest of the victim's life, the attacker can keep using the fingerprint data to do other malicious things," Zhang said. And that's a big problem. Fingerprints might be commonplace in mobile payments and unlocking devices, but they have been used more in the past five years also for identity, immigration, and for criminal records.
Affected vendors have since provided patches after being alerted by the researchers.
The researchers did not comment on which vendor is more secure than others. But, Zhang noted that Apple's iPhone, which pioneered the modern fingerprint sensor, is "quite secure," as it encrypts fingerprint data from the scanner.
"Even if the attacker can directly read the sensor, without obtaining the crypto key, [the attacker] still cannot get the fingerprint image," he said.
The problem isn't just limited to mobile devices. The researchers warned that many of the attacks they note in their talk also apply to high-end laptops with fingerprint sensors.
The researchers advised users to use devices that were regularly updated, and only install apps from reliable sources.
Affected vendors have since provided patches after being alerted by the researchers.
The researchers did not comment on which vendor is more secure than others. But, Zhang noted that Apple's iPhone, which pioneered the modern fingerprint sensor, is "quite secure," as it encrypts fingerprint data from the scanner.
"Even if the attacker can directly read the sensor, without obtaining the crypto key, [the attacker] still cannot get the fingerprint image," he said.
The problem isn't just limited to mobile devices. The researchers warned that many of the attacks they note in their talk also apply to high-end laptops with fingerprint sensors.
The researchers advised users to use devices that were regularly updated, and only install apps from reliable sources.
