Smartphone fingerprint scanners are less secure than we are led to believe, according to researchers who have developed “master fingerprints” capable of tricking the sensors.The researchers were able to bypass fingerprint readers, which are used to unlock phones, log in to apps and make payments, using fake fingerprints created by using patterns found across many real prints.The findings from New York University and Michigan State University call into question the security of the widely-used technology. The researchers were able to create a set of “master prints that could fool a scanner up to 65 per cent of the time.Fingerprint scanners are widely seen as more secure than relying on passcodes to unlock smartphones. Apple says that the Touch ID scanner used on the iPhone has only a one in 50,000 chance of matching with someone else’s finger.
Source: Why your smartphone’s fingerprint scanner isn’t as secure as you might think
absenteereality 