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Samsung's Galaxy S8 iris scanner defeated with a printout and contact lens

When Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in March, it wasn't so much about the specifications, but more about the looks and its features. Along with its impressive Infinity Display and DeX Station, one of the highlighted features was in regards to its security.

The firm touted how users would now have more options when it came to securing and unlocking their phones. Along with the usual features like a PIN, password and fingerprint scanner, Samsung also offered an iris scanner and facial recognition on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. While these additions seemed impressive, it appears that it isn't only the facial recognition that can be fooled, but also the iris scanner has now been defeated with a printout.

According to the folks at Chaos Computer Club (CCC), the security measure can easily be defeated if you have a photo of the user and a contact lens. The team at CCC was able to accomplish this by taking a photo in night mode of a user, printing out the infrared image of the iris, and applying a contact lens to that same image. Naturally, these new kinds of security are always a work in progress but shows that maybe a traditional password is a bit more secure, albeit more tedious to use.

Source: Chaos Computer Club via SamMobile

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