Your fingerprint can be stolen via screen sound!

Researchers have discovered that they can reconstruct a person's fingerprint from the sound produced while swiping on a touchscreen. This discovery poses a major risk to biometric security systems used in everything from smartphones to door entry locks.

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Your fingerprint can be stolen via screen sound!

It has been discovered that a person's fingerprint can be reconstructed from the sound produced while swiping on a touchscreen. This discovery, made by a team from the US and China, could have profound implications for biometric security systems.

The technique, called PrintListener, reconstructs the pattern of the finger's ridges through the acoustic signals produced as it slides across the screen.

Hackers could potentially record the sound using a microphone on a smartphone and steal the victim's fingerprint.

In the paper detailing their findings, the researchers stated that fingerprint leakage could lead to the theft of sensitive information, economic and personnel losses, and the compromising of national security.

Using PrintListener, the researchers found that in realistic scenarios, a person's fingerprint could be partially reconstructed at a rate of 27.9 percent and fully reconstructed at a rate of 9.3 percent.

The method was detailed in a research paper authored by a team including members from the University of Colorado in the US and Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.

The researchers noted that protection against fingerprint copying could be provided by methods such as using special screen protectors on mobile devices, but that new sound analysis techniques could also be developed.

The best precaution to take to prevent fingerprints from being stolen is to change the way one interacts with smartphones and screens. For example, it was suggested that users should not swipe their fingers on their phone screens while making voice and video calls on social media platforms.

According to a recent report by Allied Market Research, the global fingerprint biometrics market was valued at 21 billion dollars in 2022 and is expected to be worth approximately 75 billion dollars by 2032.

The report also stated that this projection could be affected by "operational concerns regarding privacy and security."

News Source: 12punto