

Smashing media hype: iPhone 5s biometrics not really “less secure” or “hacked” - owenwil
http://owened.co.nz/smashing-through-the-media-hype-iphone-5s-fingerprint-reader-not-hacked

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quchen
I find it astonishing how goalposts are moved all of a sudden. Two days ago
the fingerprint reader was hyped as a great unbreakable feature ahead of its
time and about to replace passwords.

Now, after the release of this video (nobody saw _that_ coming, heh), it's all
about how the fingerprint reader is better than no password at all. I think
that's a deeply wrong standpoint, as this is (now) demonstrably bad security
marketed as good or at least sufficient.

People will not treat it as an emergency feature they can somewhat rely on
while they think of a good passphrase. The Iphone is specifically markteted as
being "easy to use" for non-technical people, and those people have _no idea_
about security. Giving them a false sense of it is not "better than nothing",
it's creating a demand for this bad feature for an entire market. Sadly, most
people prefer convenience over security - scratch that - they don't even
consider the security part, apart from it being annoying maybe.

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verystealthy
Writing "The group simply called “CCC”" when referring to Chaos Computer Club,
one of the most important hacker collectives in the world, around for 30+
years and responsible for the largest hacker conf in Europe makes me wonder if
the OP has any knowledge about the security industry in general and biometrics
in particular.

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transfire
I would use my fp and a pin.

