Company Says Play-Doh All You Need To Break Into A Smartphone
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - As Apple continues to fight the FBI's demand that it help unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, maybe the feds should just try some... Play-Doh?
One biometrics security company says you don't need much more than that to break in to the newest smartphones.
If your phone knows your fingerprints, touching the sensor will open sesame.
"It's very simple to fool," says Jason Chaikin.
It's a Sesame Street approach that he and his company, Vkansee, takes: place a finger onto wax or a mold, apply Play-Doh over the impression, and use it to trick the sensor.
"It's very rewarding when you see the expression on people's faces when you open their phone with some Play-Doh," he says.
Of course, this approach still requires a finger, but Chaikin uses it to make the point that when it comes to our mobile security, not all sensors are created equal: Vkansee's optical scan is four times the resolution of most capacitive readers, and it checks for things like minute sweat pores before it unlocks the device.
His pitch to phone makers: it can go under glass -- no need to have a hole in the case:
"They can really have some new and exciting industrial designs while at the same time increasing the security and convenience and resisting fake fingerprint attacks."