What is disturbing about this mechanism is that SRLabs used the same mold that they used to hack the Touch ID sensor. Even more disturbing is the fact that after logging into the device, the fingerprint hack allows hackers to authenticate digital payments via PayPal without ever having to enter a password. If a hacker does not successfully authenticate a fingerprint in the first attempt, he gets multiple tries to scan the fingerprint, after which he would be able to transfer money from a user’s linked bank account. The additional functionality offered by the finger scanner makes it convenient to authenticate digital purchases, but is susceptible to hacking.
Watch the team from SRLabs successfully hack the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor below:
