A group of Chinese scientists from Guangzhou and Wuhan universities, together with their American colleagues from Colorado State University, discovered a vulnerability that allows hackers to copy fingerprints using the sound of touching a touch screen. The research was published on the international portal conferences Cyber Security Networking and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium.
The attack uses the audio capabilities of finger touches on the screen. The authors of the study claim that in 27.9% of cases they were able to obtain a partial fingerprint, while in 9.3% they were able to fully restore the user’s fingerprint data.
The source of biometric data can be any app that uses the device’s microphone, including Discord, Skype, and FaceTime.
The researchers used a special algorithm called PrintListener to analyze the raw audio signals resulting from fingers sliding across the screen.
According to the scientists, PrintListener was more effective at decrypting and reconstructing papillary patterns compared to existing MasterPrint technology, which uses artificial intelligence capabilities to recreate fingerprints using a library of templates.
Previously in Switzerland collapsed Cyber attack using millions of smart toothbrushes.
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Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.