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Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

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Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#92
post #89
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most fascinating part for me is that 6 year old managed to find a way to circumvent biometric security without hacking off someone's finger: authenticate while the user is asleep. Necessity is truly the mother of innovation.

Many friends of mine disabled that feature right after the story about someone's wife unlocked it while he was asleep. That can be orders of magnitude more expensive than $250, in one touch.

Seriously, how many people have things on their phone that they are desperatly trying to keep hidden from their SO (and still don't DELETE THE STUFF)?

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#93

i'm seeing two (obvious) bigger picture trends here that this story reinforces. 1. Digital authentication for purchasing is moving towards non-transferable biometrics ( i cant divulge my thumbprint like i can my pin ) 2. Goods of all kinds are being delivered faster The scary thing for me is that thieves love goods delivered quickly, so they can turn them quickly, and cut down on their ability to get intercepted. So…

[deleted]

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#94
post #92
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many friends of mine disabled that feature right after the story about someone's wife unlocked it while he was asleep. That can be orders of magnitude more expensive than $250, in one touch.

Seriously, how many people have things on their phone that they are desperatly trying to keep hidden from their SO (and still don't DELETE THE STUFF)?

if you are hiding stuff from your spouse you have larger issues that you should acknowledge and address. With regards to the article parents needs to disable in app purchases on any device a child can reasonably be expected to get access too

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#95

i'm seeing two (obvious) bigger picture trends here that this story reinforces. 1. Digital authentication for purchasing is moving towards non-transferable biometrics ( i cant divulge my thumbprint like i can my pin ) 2. Goods of all kinds are being delivered faster The scary thing for me is that thieves love goods delivered quickly, so they can turn them quickly, and cut down on their ability to get intercepted. So…

Well, a common type of robbery in Brazil is what's called "lightning kidnapping" due to this reason. Assailants take people by force in order to make them withdraw money from ATMs using biometric security.

To be fair, 'sequestros relâmpagos' (lightining kidnappings) were around long before biometric security in ATMs, and are still used today even with non-biometric security (PINs).

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#96
post #58

i'm seeing two (obvious) bigger picture trends here that this story reinforces. 1. Digital authentication for purchasing is moving towards non-transferable biometrics ( i cant divulge my thumbprint like i can my pin ) 2. Goods of all kinds are being delivered faster The scary thing for me is that thieves love goods delivered quickly, so they can turn them quickly, and cut down on their ability to get intercepted. So…

I had to disable touch ID on my iPhone out of frustration. It works for me maybe 1 out of 10 times no matter which finger I try to use (my wife has no problem with hers). But I've always had trouble with fingerprint readers. At the DMV, govt ID card office (back when I was in the Army), etc. "Place your finger on the scanner. Nope, try again.. press harder. No, harder." I have no idea what's wrong with my fingers :|

I've heard that people with hyperhydrosis have a lot of trouble with biometrics devices as well as smart phones. If your skin is too moist it just kinda gums up the works.

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#97
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, how many people have things on their phone that they are desperatly trying to keep hidden from their SO (and still don't DELETE THE STUFF)?

if you are hiding stuff from your spouse you have larger issues that you should acknowledge and address. With regards to the article parents needs to disable in app purchases on any device a child can reasonably be expected to get access too

[Posting sort of anonymously] My spouse and I will probably never see eye to eye on porn. I agree that it's a bigger issue, but do I need to address it?

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#98
post #72

It seems like they could add a few less-predictable factors to improve the security of thumbprints without completely ruining their convenience. For instance: — Maybe you must use two or more particular fingerprints in sequence, selected by you in advance. This would require a “sleep attack” to at least try different combinations of your fingers (without knowing which to use first or how many fingers are required). —…

I'm just imagining the court case where they can force the defendant to put their finger to the reader, but they can't force them to say what order it has to be in, so they'll slowly make the defendant try all the combinations.

Then that's just back to the situation today with passwords/passcodes. The answer is rate limiting.

Re: Child uses sleeping mom's thumbprint to buy $250 worth of Pokémon toys

#99

i'm seeing two (obvious) bigger picture trends here that this story reinforces. 1. Digital authentication for purchasing is moving towards non-transferable biometrics ( i cant divulge my thumbprint like i can my pin ) 2. Goods of all kinds are being delivered faster The scary thing for me is that thieves love goods delivered quickly, so they can turn them quickly, and cut down on their ability to get intercepted. So…

"i'm seeing two (obvious) bigger picture trends here that this story reinforces.

1. Digital authentication for purchasing is moving towards non-transferable biometrics ( i cant divulge my thumbprint like i can my pin )"

Unfortunately, your thumb print can be replicated and used. Check out this news story - police actually 3d printed a murder victim's finger to unlock their phone - http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/21/12247370/police-fingerprin...

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