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iPhone 6 Touch ID Still Vulnerable to Specialized Fake Fingerprint Hack

So you go out and buy shed loads of glue, copper clad board and other MSI stuff.
You need a qualification in forensics. You need to spend hours looking for a good fingerprint on someone else's item, oh and it must be a solid item.

You finally get onto someones iPhone via touchID and discover they have just a few innocent vacation pics from their last skiing trip ... and thats it of interest.
 
mattfoo said:
So you go out and buy shed loads of glue, copper clad board and other MSI stuff.
You need a qualification in forensics. You need to spend hours looking for a good fingerprint on someone else's item, oh and it must be a solid item.

You finally get onto someones iPhone via touchID and discover they have just a few innocent vacation pics from their last skiing trip ... and thats it of interest.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Stealing a phone? Easy.

Finding a usable fingerprint and doing all that forensic stuff? Rather difficult.

And doing all that before the owner bricks the phone remotely with Find My iPhone? Good luck.

The way I see it... TouchID REALLY makes the iPhone a less appealing target.


But let's say you do steal my phone and fake my fingerprint. Then what? You can't turn off any security settings without the PIN code.

The PIN code is still the main line of defense.

I guess you could look over my shoulder and see me type in my PIN code before you steal my phone. But wait... I don't type my PIN code anymore... thanks to TouchID.

Sure... if I ever had to reboot my phone I would type my PIN code... but I would be extra careful not to let anyone see my PIN code if I was in public.

But the final step is turning off Find My iPhone... which is protected by my iTunes password. That would be next to impossible to get from shoulder-spying.

That's a lot of trouble to go through too.
 
It might be easy to steal my phone, but for someone to take the time to try to capture a good fingerprint and then go through all of this is crazy.

Do you know what is more of a security risk? A wallet! I know they don't have to try to do crazy things to use my card in my wallet!
 
The iPhone itself is more valuable for a quick score than the personal information contained within.

1. By default, you can turn on airplane mode from the lock screen, which allows a thief to prevent remote wipe. When Control Center was still in iOS 7 beta, I pointed this out to Apple, which the subsequent beta added an option. TYVM!

2. All the thief needs to do is remove the SIM card, also preventing remote wipe.

Both scenerios allow unlimited time to try and defeat what ever access controls you have enabled.
 

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elvisimprsntr said:
The iPhone itself is more valuable for a quick score than the personal information contained within.

1. By default, you can turn on airplane mode from the lock screen, which allows a thief to prevent remote wipe. When Control Center was still in iOS 7 beta, I pointed this out to Apple, which the subsequent beta added an option. TYVM!

2. All the thief needs to do is remove the SIM card, also preventing remote wipe.

Both scenerios allow unlimited time to try and defeat what ever access controls you have enabled.
Click to expand...

I agree on the airplane mode issue. There should be an option to restrict from lock screen. I agree with the author that there should be a lockout option, after a certain number of failed attempts. Maybe the same principal as the passcode, where it adds more and more time between attempts.

Obviously this does nothing for pulling the SIM Card issue. But, Apple could add a setting here, which would require you to authenticate via your iCloud ID 1st before allowing you to access your phone. Or require you to enter your passcode immediately after the SIM is pulled OR airplane mode is enabled on a locked phone (to authenticate you are the owner) although I guess TouchID here too would be acceptable as long as there is a timeout.

Regardless of TouchID or passcode though, the result would be the same. A thief would be able to attempt to get in, but this would buy them some time. The only criminal in this instance or possibly law enforcement would be for the sole reason to get your personal info. Thus, the odds are microscopic for most. The biggest crime was from stealing the phones and reselling them. In that case, a thief has to deactivate Activation Lock. In order to that airplane mode needs to be turned off and the SIM needs to be replaced.
 
Liberty. said:
Exactly and if you're a criminal you have to hope the person has any really valuable data saved.
Click to expand...

You mean, something valuable like the ability to make purchases using their phone?

--

If nothing else, it'll make a great police show plot line:

Cops: "So, Liberty, where were you last night when KDarling was shot?"

You: "I was at home watching TV, thirty miles away. My wife will vouch for me."

Wife: "Actually, I was asleep, officers. So I don't know where he was."

You: "Well, I swear, I was at home the whole night."

Cops: "Then how could your iPhone have purchased chewing gum using Apple Pay and your fingerprint, placing you at the scene of the crime ?!"

You: "I'm innocent, I tell ya! Someone must've taken my iPhone for a while that night!"

Cops: "Yeah, sure, and one of your fingers too? Nope, you have them all. And are we to believe that someone made a fake fingerprint overlay in an hour or so? No way. Have a nice time behind bars!"

Wife: (rubbing hands together in glee after planning the crime for months, taking her sweet time making a fake print) *snicker*

:D
 
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