Cut off the finger does not help unlock the iPhone 5S

After the presentation of the iPhone 5S with a button to unlock the fingerprint began to express fears that thieves will resort to cutting off the fingers of people in order to gain access to the stolen device, writes Mashable.

The fear is not that hypothetical: eight years ago in Malaysia there was a case of theft of a Mercedes S-class with biometric protection - in order to start it, thieves cut off a finger from the owner. However, biometric security experts say there will be no such problems with the iPhone 5S.

The iPhone's fingerprint sensor, Touch ID, uses radiofrequency scanning to recognize the subepidermal skin layers. This technology requires the owner of the finger to be alive and attached to the finger.
')
“The technology [of a radio frequency capacitive sensor] is built in such a way that the image of [fingerprints] must be taken from a living finger,” said Sebastian Tavo, director of technology for Validity Sensors, a California-based supplier of fingerprint sensors. “No one in biometrics wants to talk about cut off fingers and corpses, but in the end we are still asked to dispel consumer fears and make sure that they understand that [cut off finger] will not work.”

Of course, this new feature of the iPhone 5S cannot exclude cases where the victim can be forced to attach his finger to access the smartphone, but for those who are concerned about the worst-case scenario, this is some consolation.

According to Tavo, the recognition of prints in the iPhone 5S is very important for the market: “[Apple] used technology that existed for a long time, but the difference is that they made it cool. [This technology was used] on laptops, but apart from locking and unlocking your laptop there were not many scenarios for its use. ”