You might be busy admiring the Touch ID function on your fresh new iPhone 5s, but your older, dust-collecting iPhone has some easily-activated security features of its own.
If you no longer need your old iPhone, why not use it as a home security camera that you can monitor from your new one? With the right apps, it’s much easier than you may think.
By now, the news is out —TouchID was hacked. In truth, none of us really expected otherwise. Fingerprint biometrics use a security credential that gets left behind everywhere you go on everything you touch.
The fact that fingerprints can be lifted is not really up for debate— CSI technicians have been doing it for decades. The big question with TouchID was whether or not Apple could implement a design that would resist attacks using lifted fingerprints, or whether they would join the long line of manufacturers who had tried but failed to implement a completely secure solution.
During ZDNet's Great Debate prior to the release of Apple's iPhone 5s with Touch ID, I argued that once released hackers would determine the strength of the fingerprint scanner and other iOS7 security features.
Well, the results are funneling in and it seems there are plenty of soft spots. Touch ID has already been hacked and the first to do it is set to collect a bounty that may exceed $11,000.
Security flaws have been uncovered in Apple's new iOS 7 software, just a day after its release.
A thief who steals an iPhone or iPad running the new software would be able to exploit the flaw and disable the Find my iPhone feature, used by owners and police to track down stolen Apple devices, even if the thief does not have the password for the device.
Apple's iPhone 5S comes with a fingerprint scanner and it is now the subject of an online contest started by hackers who are offering a bounty to the first person to hack the biometric lock.
Apple has initiated an internal high priority alert to support staff indicating that activation server problems and other issues are preventing a large number of customers from activating their iPhones.
According to a reliable source, Apple has sent out an internal P1 (high priority) alert notifying employees of server issues that are preventing customers from activating their iPhones, whether the device is brand new or recently restored. Compounding the problem are "other internal issues," though the exact nature of these complications is unknown at this time.
Apple’s fingerprint scanner on the latest iPhone could become a ‘Holy Grail’ for hackers, experts have warned.
Fingerprint recognition technology on the iPhone 5s captures a permanent biometric feature, German data protection expert Johannes Casper said.
If the ‘secure enclave’ that stores the data in the device’s A7 chip was hacked, thieves would have information about you that does not change, he added. Mr Casper explained: ‘Biometric fingerprints cannot be erased. They are with us for life.
On Friday, Microsoft uploaded a series of seven videos to its Windows Phone channel on YouTube. The videos, headed "A fly on the wall in Cupertino" poked fun at the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c’s features and were, depending on your point of view, hilarious, genius, spot-on, unfunny, pathetic, and wide of the mark.
My colleague Alan Buckingham watched them all and then started to write a story, adding all the videos for your viewing (dis)pleasure. Unfortunately, before he got to post it, Microsoft switched all the clips to private in yet another of its now frequent U-turns.
The fingerprint scanner on Apple's new iPhone 5S is being heralded as the most innovative feature on the latest model of the company's smartphone. However, Apple has admitted that its "Touch ID" sensor isn't exactly perfect -- namely, it doesn't like sweaty fingers.
Company testers have discovered that the Touch ID sensor will not always respond to fingertips coated in sweat, lotion, or other liquids, an Apple spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal.
The fingerprint sensor in Apple's new iPhone 5S has the potential to enhance the security of the device, but the devil will be in the details.
Its effectiveness will depend on the strength of the implementation and whether it's used in conjunction with other security credentials, researchers said.
