Earlier this week Samsung confirmed that an issue regarding screen protectors allowed some of its flagship devices to be bypassed with any fingerprint. Now, the company has said it will fix the problem in a patch which may come as soon as next week.
The issue affects Samsung’s flagship phone, the Galaxy S10, as well as the Note 10. When certain third-party screen protectors are installed on the devices, they can be unlocked by non-registered users. It’s thought that the silicone in the screen protector causes issues with the ultrasonic sensor which reads individual fingerprints, causing false positives that allow anyone to unlock the device.
This follows an earlier issue in which the fingerprint sensors in the same devices could be fooled by a 3D-printed fingerprint.
Samsung is advising users not to use any covers. It says users should remove the cover, delete any previously-registered fingerprints, and then re-register them without the cover applied. If you’re using the screen protector that came pre-applied to your phone then you should be fine. But for everyone else, it couldn’t hurt to try and unlock your device with a non-registered fingerprint, just to check.
