“When Apple introduced the iPhone 5s earlier this month, one of the features it touted was Touch ID, a fingerprint-scanner built into the home button at the bottom of the device,” JP Mangalindan reports for Fortune. “Users may simply touch the home button to unlock their phone and even authenticate iTunes purchases, instead of inputting a custom 4-digit passcode used by previous iPhones.”
“But just how secure is Touch ID, really?” Mangalindan reports. “Is it a nifty gimmick, or truly better security for user data?”
Mangalindan reports, “Likely the latter. According to Marc Rogers, a security researcher for the mobile security startup Lookout, Apple’s implementation of fingerprint scanning trumps the old method for myriad reasons. Rogers explains fingerprint scanning as a whole is more secure than the four-digit passcode. Copying someone’s fingerprints remains a cumbersome process, not to mention pricey — as much as $200,000, by some estimates. And at the risk of sounding morbid, using severed fingers apparently isn’t an option either. Which is to say, that barring a targeted hack, iPhone 5s owners should rest assured their data is just as secure as it ever was.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: And, once again, Malandroid settlers are left out in the cold.
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