Samsung’s current flagship model – Galaxy S5 might be a best-in-class smartphone in terms of unique features with a heart beat sensor, fingerprint scanner and Paypal app with fingerprint authentication and much more. But, it seems like the handset would not be the best suitable for those who tend to store sensitive details on the phone owing to its fingerprint scanner, which is an appealing selling point of the device.
Recent reports across the tech world suggest that the Galaxy S5 units can be hacked creating risk for the PayPal account users. As per a Germany based security blog, H Security, SRLabs as posted a video clip showing how the Galaxy S5 fingerprint scanner can be hacked.
As per the video, a dummy fingerprint can allow anyone to access the Galaxy S5 that can in turn provide access to sensitive apps such as PayPal. Earlier, a similar type of hacking was done on the iPhone 5s fingerprint scanner, but the handset has a lock screen that the users have to pass through before accessing the fingerprint scanner.
This lock screen adds more security as it is password protected and it will pop up even when the users reboot their handsets. In the case of Galaxy S5, this additional layer of protection that is significant is lacking. Samsung utilizes the fingerprint scanner to identify the user and lets them access any feature, making it risky for users. However, Samsung has not mentioned anything about this hacking and we have to see what the company has in store for the lack of this additional protective layer.
