theft of fruit based finger print reading phone and finger

pollyukpollyuk Posts: 341
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how long until the first story hits the press?

im guessing mid Oct
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Comments

  • swordmanswordman Posts: 6,679
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    Sadly you may be right there have been some horrific stories of late from certain parts of the world over far less than an iphone
  • Philip WalesPhilip Wales Posts: 6,373
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    Thats a very good point at the moment they would have to force you to give up your password, not something easily done in the street etc. But now all they have to do is grab your hand, slap finger on home button and bam!.. they have access to your phone.
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
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    It could easily be accomplished whilst people are asleep/drunk etc. Far easier than getting a password out of them. Imo it's just a silly gimmick and I will also say this if the Nexus 5 follows suit.
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    konebyvax wrote: »
    It could easily be accomplished whilst people are asleep/drunk etc. Far easier than getting a password out of them. Imo it's just a silly gimmick and I will also say this if the Nexus 5 follows suit.

    And touch screens are a silly gimmick, IMO they'll never catch on :)
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
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    tdenson wrote: »
    And touch screens are a silly gimmick, IMO they'll never catch on :)



    You are getting ever more silly in your responses TBH. Well done.
  • StigglesStiggles Posts: 9,618
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    tdenson wrote: »
    And touch screens are a silly gimmick, IMO they'll never catch on :)

    Hmmm....

    You have to agree that if you fell asleep and had your phone with you i could easily access it using this fingerprint reader without your knowledge.

    With a passcode or pattern like i use, you could not.
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    Stiggles wrote: »
    Hmmm....

    You have to agree that if you fell asleep and had your phone with you i could easily access it using this fingerprint reader without your knowledge.

    With a passcode or pattern like i use, you could not.

    I'll take the chance that you won't end up in my bedroom :)

    To be serious, I have never fallen asleep in a public place, and if there is a burglar in my bedroom, my phone will be the least of my worries.
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    konebyvax wrote: »
    You are getting ever more silly in your responses TBH. Well done.

    I though the smiley might give the game away that I was joking, lighten up.
  • StigglesStiggles Posts: 9,618
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    tdenson wrote: »
    I'll take the chance that you won't end up in my bedroom :)

    To be serious, I have never fallen asleep in a public place, and if there is a burglar in my bedroom, my phone will be the least of my worries.

    Makes no odds. The fact is it can still happen.

    Then again, if you were god forbid robbed in the street, they could just stick your finger on the thing!
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    If Apple's fingerprint reader turns out to be reliable and widely adopted by iPhone users (and yes, that's a big if, and we can only wait and see rather than prejudge it) then if it increases the percentage of people who actually use any lock code at all from what is currently about 50% to, let's say, 80% then I would argue that those extra users who now have security would swamp the number of burglars creeping up to unsuspecting sleeping people.
  • StigglesStiggles Posts: 9,618
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    tdenson wrote: »
    If Apple's fingerprint reader turns out to be reliable and widely adopted by iPhone users (and yes, that's a big if, and we can only wait and see rather than prejudge it) then if it increases the percentage of people who actually use any lock code at all from what is currently about 50% to, let's say, 80% then I would argue that those extra users who now have security would swamp the number of burglars creeping up to unsuspecting sleeping people.

    First of all how do you know its only 50%?

    Second, i think you underestimate the amount of people that fall asleep places! I work in a hotel where we every weekend host several weddings. We have one tonight I'm working at and i can bet anything you like several fall asleep in the bog! It's not as uncommon as you think!
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    Stiggles wrote: »
    Then again, if you were god forbid robbed in the street, they could just stick your finger on the thing!

    Just like they can stick my credit card in a pinsentry device and confirm that the pin number I am telling them is correct. Most people I speak to are not aware that these little pinsentry readers that the bank gives you are generic (you can put any card in any reader and it's not bank specific either). As a result this device encourages violent crime in as much as the villainy can now all be carried out down a dark alley instead of frog marching you to a cashpoint.
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
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    I'm assuming the fingerprint reader can be turned off in favour of 'old' security measures like pass codes and patterns (both, unlike your fingerprint, can be changed at will should you so wish, of course). Fingerprint security certainly has its place at places like GCHQ where you are already in a secure environment but outside walking about in public with a device that can be opened in seconds by placing your finger on the screen? It's daft and like I say a silly gimmick.
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    Stiggles wrote: »
    First of all how do you know its only 50%?

    It's what I read somewhere, not saying it's gospel, but it seems possible. I know on a sample of two (myself and my wife) it's 0% !!

    Perhaps I'm a bit blase, but in 25 years of owning mobile phones (if you can call the Motorola suitcase I had in 1988 a mobile) I have never had one stolen. I take the view with modern phones that if the worst comes to the worst I can remotely wipe my phone and if that fails I always have recourse to being reimbursed by financial organisations as a result of any ensuing fraud. Typing in a passcode 50 times a day every day of my life is not worth it to mitigate the relatively minor possibility of firstly having it stolen, and then secondly having it used to my financial disadvantage. Having a lock code after all is not going to prevent it being stolen.
    The thing that attracts me to fingerprint scanning is not the lock code, I may still not even use it for that, but it's to provide me an easy way to log in to my Apple account which I do frequently and obviously has to have a password (although as I have implemented Apple's two factor authentication, not sure even that is necessary IMO).
  • Philip WalesPhilip Wales Posts: 6,373
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    I worked in a nightclub as door security many years ago, and yes the amount of people you find "crashed out" at the end of the night is quite large. You could if feeling rather naughty, swipe their finger, access twitter/facebook etc make some malicious posts etc, the person would have a hard time explaining how that happened.
  • Everything GoesEverything Goes Posts: 12,972
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    A simple as a photocopied bit of paper works :D

    See this clip from Mythbusters. Just moisten slightly to trick capacitive sensor.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hji3kp_i9k
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    konebyvax wrote: »
    I'm assuming the fingerprint reader can be turned off in favour of 'old' security measures like pass codes and patterns (both, unlike your fingerprint, can be changed at will should you so wish, of course). Fingerprint security certainly has its place at places like GCHQ where you are already in a secure environment but outside walking about in public with a device that can be opened in seconds by placing your finger on the screen? It's daft and like I say a silly gimmick.

    But all this talk of coercing people to put their finger on the phone is contrived statistically. Let's bear in mind the difference between picking up a phone off a table when someone is not looking and forcibly making them do something physically, is the difference between petty crime and violent crime. It is far less likely that a villain will risk it.
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
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    tdenson wrote: »
    But all this talk of coercing people to put their finger on the phone is contrived statistically. Let's bear in mind the difference between picking up a phone off a table when someone is not looking and forcibly making them do something physically, is the difference between petty crime and violent crime. It is far less likely that a villain will risk it.


    Swiping the finger of a passed out person on their mobile is violent crime? It's crime but I'm not convinced it it could be construed as violent. But it's not just crime I am talking about - a few mates crash out at one place after a boozy night, one has a new iPhone next to him, he's bladdered, :D not difficult for a mate to swipe his finger on his phone and do some real naughty things on social media in his name. Like I said, it's a silly gimmick.
  • exterraexterra Posts: 159
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    I think the fingerprint reader is a good thing.

    If you're unfortunate enough to have an iphone with a corporate email account then theres a good change that you company's Microsoft Exchange admin will be controlling your password format to unlock the device - when you have to enter a 16 digit password that consists of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters 40 times a day it starts to get a bit annoying.
  • pollyukpollyuk Posts: 341
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    konebyvax wrote: »
    ..Fingerprint security certainly has its place at places like GCHQ where you are already in a secure environment but outside walking about in public with a device that can be opened in seconds by placing your finger on the screen? It's daft and like I say a silly gimmick.
    GCHQ use fingerprint security!? We're doomed, its seriously low teck stuff.
  • pollyukpollyuk Posts: 341
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    exterra wrote: »
    I think the fingerprint reader is a good thing.

    If you're unfortunate enough to have an iphone with a corporate email account then theres a good change that you company's Microsoft Exchange admin will be controlling your password format to unlock the device - when you have to enter a 16 digit password that consists of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters 40 times a day it starts to get a bit annoying.
    No sane person puts their corp email on their phone, allow work to remotely wipe your device? no thanks
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    tdenson wrote: »
    II take the view with modern phones that if the worst comes to the worst I can remotely wipe my phone and if that fails I always have recourse to being reimbursed by financial organisations as a result of any ensuing fraud. Typing in a passcode 50 times a day every day of my life is not worth it to mitigate the relatively minor possibility of firstly having it stolen, and then secondly having it used to my financial disadvantage.

    The thing is, with modern smartphones now, someone with an unlocked phone can obtain access (and often change the password) to your email, your social networks, ebay, amazon accounts... not only your personal info but perhaps your financial info too. Daft not to use some form of protection, though I'm not sure why that has to equal 50 times a day. Just set the lock timer to something like an hour.
  • tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    paulbrock wrote: »
    though I'm not sure why that has to equal 50 times a day. Just set the lock timer to something like an hour.

    Doesn't that somewhat defeat the whole point of the lock code though. The thief has up to an hour unfettered access.
  • kidspudkidspud Posts: 18,341
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    I assume the same problem exists with the face recognition unlock on the S4, althought in fairness they might have to make several attempts to get it to work. ;)
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    tdenson wrote: »
    Doesn't that somewhat defeat the whole point of the lock code though. The thief has up to an hour unfettered access.

    it balances risk vs convenience, like most security.

    Chances are my phone will have been locked before someone finds it wherever I lost it (a more likely scenario than being mugged). Even with thieves/pickpockets, unless they happen to go for it immediately after I use it, there's a good chance it'll be locked before they get their grubby mits on it.

    And if someone snatches your phone from your hand while you're using it, it doesn't matter what lock you have on it.
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