iPhone 5s Fingerprint Scanner Hacked? Touch ID Accepts More Than Just Fingerprints

Apple has positioned the new iPhone’s TouchID feature as a secure solution for iPhone users to keep their data safe. The process of registering fingerprints is not that hard. But did you know that you can register more than fingerprints to unlock an iPhone 5s? The folks at Rocket News have put together a video that shows how you can register nipples and unlock your phone that way.

Knowing YouTube users, this has the potential to lead to gross videos showing how an iPhone 5s can be unlocked with all kinds of things. Not all body parts seem to work though. On the bright side, cat paws do work.

The iPhone 5s does have a pretty decent fingerprint scanner. But it is not unhackable. In fact, the folks from the Chaos Computer Club claim it can be hacked easily:

First, the fingerprint of the enroled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone. This process has been used with minor refinements and variations against the vast majority of fingerprint sensors on the market.

As you can tell, the process is not super easy but not impossible either. Your fingerprint is still going to be more secure than using a password though.