![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sitesdev.net\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/face-recognition-resized.jpg\")
One of the exciting new features offered by the latest smartphones is facial recognition, which allows users to unlock their devices simply by looking at them.\u00a0 On paper, it’s a great feature and incredibly convenient, but there’s a problem. The issue was uncovered by a non-profit group called the Dutch Consumentenbond, which tested more than a hundred smartphones offered by a broad spectrum of vendors.<\/p>\n
Their findings were disturbing to say the least.<\/p>\n
It seems that advances in technology have rendered the new facial recognition routines easily hacked.\u00a0 The group found that nearly 40 percent of the phones they tested could be unlocked by a hacker displaying a high-resolution photograph in front of the camera.<\/p>\n
These photos are such high quality that they can fool the software designed to protect the user. This allows any hacker who has access to a high-resolution photo of the phone’s owner complete and unfettered access to anything on the device.\u00a0 After all, as far as the phone is concerned, you’re the one unlocking it!<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, given the fact that most people these days are engaged on at least one social media platform, high-res photographs are incredibly easy to come by.\u00a0 Even if you’re not personally engaged in social media on any platform, given the ubiquity of high-quality cameras on the smart devices available for sale today, it’s incredibly easy to snap a picture of the owner of the phone either before or after the hacker has made off with it.<\/p>\n
The issue here is twofold:\u00a0 First, a growing percentage of people do their banking and make a variety of purchases via their phones, meaning that all of the data associated with those accounts would be available to a hacker who stole the phone.\u00a0 Second, companies selling phones with the facial recognition unlock feature are touting it as highly secure, when it very clearly isn’t, giving their user base a false sense of security.<\/p>\n
Beware.\u00a0 Facial recognition unlock is much easier to hack than manufacturers are letting on!<\/p>\n
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One of the exciting new features offered by the latest smartphones is facial recognition, which allows users to unlock their devices simply by looking at them.\u00a0 On paper, it’s a great feature and incredibly convenient, but there’s a problem. The issue was uncovered by a non-profit group called the Dutch Consumentenbond, which tested more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n