this post was submitted on 05 May 2024
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Why the oems resist giving proper drivers for fingerprint😡 https://lemy.lol/post/24413858

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I understand wanting to use this, but, fingerprint reader is so I secure I usually avoid it.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Is it really less secure than a password? How so?

[–] [email protected] 45 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If it's compromised you can't change it for one

Also you can't be legally forced without a warrant to give a password but biometric data you can be legally forced without a warrant to give up

[–] [email protected] 35 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Lol let's take the kid gloves off, shall we?

Fingerprints, as a means of authentication, is just straight up not secure.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Man, I knew fingerprint encryption was bad but that is nuts.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Fwiw they’re able to do the same thing by the sound of someone typing a password across the room. Not advocating for fingerprints or anything, just these exotic hacks are everywhere

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

The thing is, one of those attacks requires you to type your password. The other requires you to touch something.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

...my memory was that this only worked after the routine had been trained on your typing idiosyncrasies

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (1 children)

With a password you can have an exact binary comparison. Either you supplied the correct password or you didn't.

But with biometrics you just have an approximation because your fingerprints change slightly due to the position in which you hold them, your health, humidity, pressure and probably other stuff I'm not thinking of. So the sensor can only say that it's like 95 % or whatever sure that it got the correct fingerprint. And this uncertainty makes it much easier to exploit.

And your fingerprint is not secret. You leave it all over the place. Especially on devices you use every day. And your fingerprint can (and will) be taken without your consent. And you cannot change your fingerprint if it gets compromised.

All those spy movies showing how trivial it is to circumvent biometric security have in common that whatever method they used was realistic.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Lol my hands are jacked from physical labor and health, scars on my fingers, dry skin, my thumb print only works only 50% of the time anyhow.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

A fingerprint is a password you leave a copy of on everything you touch.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Biometric data can be used as login but is unsuitable as password, since it can't be changed once compromised.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I use it if only because my wife won't use passwords on her devices. We aren't even at step one for device security. I'll take what I can get, or what she's willing to work with.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Can you get to 2FA with a 4 digit PIN, at least?