SEOUL – A flaw with Samsung’s top-end Galaxy S10 fingerprint system thatallows the smartphone to be opened by a third party will soon be fixed, thetech giant said.
A user in the UK told the Sun newspaper earlier this week her Samsungdevice could be unlocked by someone else simply by putting on a screenprotector and applying an unregistered fingerprint.
“This means that if anyone got hold of my phone they can access it andwithin moments could be into the financial apps and be transferring funds,”she was quoted as saying by the British paper.
Samsung’s spokesperson in Seoul said the company will soon roll out a fix,but did not say what caused the recognition problem.
“We are investigating this issue and will be deploying a software patchsoon,” she told AFP.
The world’s biggest smartphone maker has touted the phone’s in-displayfingerprint sensor as “revolutionary”.
“When you place your thumb on the screen, it sends ultrasonic pulses todetect the 3D ridges and valleys of your unique fingerprint to quickly andaccurately recognize you,” the firm has said about the specific technology.
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Kakaobank, South Korea’s internet-only bank, has told its customers to usepasswords and pattern locks when using its mobile banking services untilthe problem is fixed.
Samsung is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung Group, by far thebiggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business inthe world’s 11th-largest economy, and crucial to South Korea’s economichealth.
But it has a history of humiliating setbacks with major products, mostnotably a worldwide recall of its Galaxy Note 7 devices in 2016 overexploding batteries, which hammered its reputation.
Its first foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, was launched last monthmonths after faulty screens forced an embarrassing delay of its release.-APP/AFP
