Skip to main content

Security firm claims to thwart iPhone X's Face ID with a mask

posted onNovember 12, 2017
by l33tdawg

When Apple introduced Face ID security alongside the iPhone X, it boasted that even Hollywood-quality masks couldn't fool the system. It might not be a question of movie-like authenticity, however -- security researchers at Bkav claim to have thwarted Face ID by using a specially-built mask. Rather than strive for absolute realism, the team built its mask with the aim of tricking the depth-mapping technology. The creation uses hand-crafted "skin" made specifically to exploit Face ID, while 3D printing produced the face model. Other parts, such as the eyes, are 2D images. The proof of concept appears to work, as you can see in the clip below. The question is: do iPhone X owners actually have to worry about it?

The researchers maintain that they didn't have to 'cheat' to make this work. The iPhone X was trained from a real person's face, and it only required roughly $150 in supplies (not including the off-the-shelf 3D printer). The demo shows Face ID working in one try, too, although it's not clear how many false starts Bkav had before producing a mask that worked smoothly. The company says it started working on the mask on November 5th, so the completed project took about 5 days.

Source

Tags

Apple Security

You May Also Like

Recent News

Tuesday, November 19th

Friday, November 8th

Friday, November 1st

Tuesday, July 9th

Wednesday, July 3rd

Friday, June 28th

Thursday, June 27th

Thursday, June 13th

Wednesday, June 12th

Tuesday, June 11th