Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor compromised

Accord to new research data from security analysts and professionals, the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor is now completely compromised, as hackers can actually copy fingerprint data from the sensor itself. The report says that the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor has a flaw that allows hackers to infiltrate the data being collected by the sensor and copy any fingerprint that is registered with the device in question. Even if the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor has received a lot of criticism from users and many don’t even use it due to its inaccuracy and unresponsiveness, those who do should immediately erase all their fingerprint IDs from the phone and refrain from using it any longer until the issue is confirmed and fixed.

The report done by FireEye experts exposes that the issue with the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor that allows hackers to steal information does not lie within Samsung hardware and software, rather with Android itself. According to their report, the vulnerability is within Android and it could effect all the smartphones that run the OS and have a fingerprint sensor, such as the Galaxy Note 4 fingerprint sensor, Huawei Mate 7 and the Galaxy S6 of course. This flaw is potentially very dangerous, and Samsung told reporters that it was already investigating the findings of the report. Hackers can actually authorize payments using your Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor, without you even realizing it.

According to the security researchers, the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor is compromised alongside the, Galaxy Note 4 and Huawei Mate 7 sensors as the flaw lies within most Android software versions, including Android 4.4 and Android 5.0. Granted that attackers have high level access to a phone’s memory, they can snatch the information stored by the Android device and its fingerprint sensor. They say that the flaw affects the Galaxy S5 most severely as there is no need for such a high level of clearance in order to access stored fingerprint ID data. The good news is that the issue can be solved if you update to Android 5.1.1, the issue should be resolved. The problem is that this software update is not yet available for download.