Samsung Galaxy S10's fingerprint security was surprisingly hacked by no less than a printed fingerprint using a 3d printer.
An Imgur post by a certain user named darkshark just proved that reconsideration should be done in relying mainly on a phone's fingerprint sensor security, Samsung Galaxy S10 to be exact. The post showed how the user was able to unlock his smartphone without having his bare finger touch the fingerprint sensor.
On the 20 second video captioned "I attempted to fool the new Samsung Galaxy S10's ultrasonic fingerprint scanner by using 3d printing. I succeeded," Imgur user darkshark revealed how he managed to unlock his Samsung Galaxy S10 wearing gloves to assure that it is not his fingerprint that the sensor will detect.
Darkshark elaborated his work beginning with taking a photograph of his fingerprint on a wine glass using a focal length DSLR camera. Using Photoshop, he increased his captured fingerprint's contrast for him to be able to create an alpha mask out of it.
With his aim in mind to test if he can hack his Samsung Galaxy S10's fingerprint and test its sensor's reliability, darkshark created a geometry displacement from the Photoshopped image using the 3ds Max. Using an AnyCubic Photon LCD resin printer with up to 10 microns accuracy, he produced a 3d printed copy of his fingerprint complete with even the smallest details such as ridges. It took him only 13 minutes to complete the entire printing process.
After completing the printing process, the Imgur user then tried to unlock his Samsung Galaxy S10 with an embedded ultrasonic fingerprint scanner which has been proven capable of capturing the 3D contours of thumbs and fingerprints for better security using his 3d printed fingerprint alone. His first and second attempts were unsuccessful failing to mirror his fingerprint on the first try. His third attempt finally did it and proved that the 3d print out was enough to open his mobile phone just as his own finger does.
After proving that Samsung Galaxy S10's ultrasonic fingerprint scanner can be hacked by a 3d fingerprint image, various questions began to surface on the S10 3d fingerprint sensor's security. The Imgur user who happened to be the first one to hack the Korean tech giant's 2019 flagship phone raised the security concern for users who rely so much on the fingerprint security feature. He said that if he was able to complete the entire hacking process in less than 15 minutes, then users who are using banking apps are at risk of losing their money in such a short period of time.
