Researchers demonstrate Touch ID spoof and vulnerabilities in iPhone 5s and iOS 7

With the release of the iPhone 5s and its fingerprint-detection Touch ID technology, many are hailing biometrics to be the next step towards higher security. However, a German security company thinks otherwise. The researchers have demonstrated a way to break through Touch ID and perform a few hacks through a couple of videos.

In the first video, the researchers show how one can go about spoofing a fingerprint to fool an iPhone 5s into thinking that it is the owner’s fingerprint. This, despite being a long and complicated process, turns out to be quite effective, and even more remarkable is the fact that the original picture of the fingerprint was taken using an iPhone 4s.

The second video shows a number of vulnerabilities present in the iPhone 5s, not only because of Touch ID, but also because of security loopholes present in iOS 7. For example, after stealing an iPhone 5s, the attacker can quickly use Control Center to put the phone in Airplane Mode so that the original user can’t wipe it through Find My iPhone. From there, the hacks escalate, culminating with the attacker getting complete access to the original owner’s Gmail accounts.

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To fix these problems, researchers have recommended a few improvements for iOS 7 and iPhone 5s that could potentially improve security. This includes making Airplane Mode inaccessible from the Lock Screen, advising users to revoke a device’s privileges if it is lost for good and not revealing how the device is protected on the lockscreen.