Bypassing Phone Fingerprint Sensors With an Inkjet Printer
Researchers at Michigan State University have developed a clever hack that allows them to scan and then print a target user’s fingerprint and then use it to unlock a mobile phone via the fingerprint sensor. The method uses an off-the-shelf inkjet printer equipped with some special cartridges with conductive ink to print the fingerprint image […]
FCC Looking for Help Securing 5G, IoT Devices
SAN FRANCISCO–The FCC is appealing to the security and cryptographic communities for help in defining new security standards for both the forthcoming 5G wireless network and the exploding number of smart devices that make up the IoT. David Simpson, the chief of the FCC’s public safety and homeland security bureau, said in a discussion at […]
Balancing Privacy and Security in the Backdoor Debate
SAN FRANCISCO–The Apple-FBI debate has brought up many old arguments about wiretapping, surveillance, backdoors, and law enforcement, but while the discussions aren’t new, the technological context is. Cryptographers and privacy experts who are studying the case say that the recent proliferation of encrypted communications and devices has raised the stakes for everyone involved. “Wiretapping didn’t […]
Some Rays of Sunshine on the Security Horizon
SAN FRANCISCO–The cryptographers’ panel at the RSA Conference is not generally noted for its optimism. But amid the usual talk of mass surveillance and breaks in ciphers, several of the panelists sounded downright upbeat about the future of security. The panel, which is just about the last remaining nod to the conference’s roots as a […]
On the Wire Podcast: Rick Holland
Rick Holland has seen the security world from a variety of interesting angles. He’s been a practitioner, an industry analyst, and is now the vice president of strategy at Digital Shadows. He’s been digging around in all of the interesting data that the company collects from the public Internet and the deep Web and in […]
Sidestepping Apple Pay Enrollment Authentication
SAN FRANCISCO–Apple has touted its Apple Pay system as a convenient, simple, and secure alternative to using physical debit or credit cards. But researchers have identified some weaknesses in the enrollment and authentication flow of the system that could have allowed attackers to add stolen cards to their own Apple Pay accounts and use them […]