Hollywood has duped the minds of viewers, making the hacking of biometrics look easy. In 1997, Gattaca showed Ethan Hawke bypassing a DNA scan with a drop of blood; and in 1992, Sneakers showed Robert Redford hacking voice recognition with a tape of the phrase. Today, 80% use biometrics to unlock their mobile devices, and 48% have authenticated payment with biometrics. Saying this, how strong is biometric security, and can easily can they be hacked?
The answer to questions both varies. First: biometrics are more secure than traditional passwords and PINs. Secondly: Biometrics are tough to hack simply due to the amount of time it would take to do so.
In short, the science behind biometric technology is not standardized. Each device performs differently, is equipped with different security, and requires a unique approach to using - which would require a unique approach to hacking.
While creating a fake to fool a biometric system is a common, and sometimes successful, approach to hacking, creating a fake would require large amounts of user data. Besides, hacking through use of a fake would be difficult to attempt without being noticed by the biometric’s firewalls.
Today, 57% of apps feature a biometric login option, and 42% won’t use banking apps that lack biometric authentication. More information on biometric security can be found by reading below.
infographic by: www.computersciencezone.org
