Samsung is having serious issues with fingerprint scanners on the Galaxy S10 / Note 10 series devices. Reports regarding such issues arose recently, and the company has now released a new statement regarding the matter.
The company warned users that those fingerprint scanners are letting pretty much anyone unlock your device with non-official accessories. The issue is with certain silicone screen protecting cases, it seems.
Samsung’s ultrasonic fingerprint scanners unlock devices after recognizing 3-dimensional patterns appearing on specific silicone screen protecting cases. They basically recognize such patterns as users’ fingerprints.
Samsung asks Galaxy S10 / Note 10 users to re-register fingerprints
In order to avoid any security issues, Samsung has shared steps users should take in order to avoid issues. If you own the Galaxy Note 10, Note 10+, S10, S10+ or 10 5G, and use such a cover, this is what you should do.
Samsung says you should remove such a cover, and delete all previous fingerprints that are saved. After that, you should register new ones.
The company has also advised users to refrain from using such covers until a patch comes to your device.
Software update (patch) is coming sometime this week
Samsung says that a software update is planned to be released sometime this week. After the update arrives, the company asks its users to scan their fingerprint(s) properly. They advise Galaxy S10 / Note 10 useres to scan all portions of your fingerprint, including the center and the corners.
This is a considerable issue, and of the worst kind. Security issues are never a good sign, of course. In this case, they allow pretty much anyone to get access to your info, as long as they have your phone… presuming you’re using one of those silicone covers, of course.
This issue is only related to the devices mentioned earlier. So, pretty much every flagship Samsung-branded phone that was released this issue is threatened.
Samsung will hopefully be able to keep its promise, and issue a fix for such issues this week.
For those of you who do not know, Samsung is actually using Qualcomm’s fingerprint scanner. Those ultrasonic fingerprint scanners have always been a challenge for screen protectors, and it seems like this flaw was overlooked at some point.
Just to be clear, if you don’t let other people use your phone, you’re good. Nobody can access your phone remotely due to this issue, or anything of the sort. Just make sure to install that patch that is expected to arrive at some point this week, and re-register your fingerprint(s) after that happens. It’s also a good idea to re-register your fingerprint(s) now as well, after you remove that gel cover from your phone.