You may have heard about the fingerprint sensor flaw that was detected recently on the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10 series. It only affects users who have a certain silicone cover that covers the entire phone. You don’t need to worry about this if you’re not someone who uses such a cover.
Samsung has put out an official statement on the matter, reiterating that this flaw is only limited to those who are using a specific type of silicone cover. It adds that the flaw will be fixed through a software update in the coming week.
Fix for the Galaxy S10/Note 10 fingerprint issue coming soon
The issue involves certain silicone covers that provide complete coverage for the device. They have 3-dimensional dotted patterns that can trip the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 handsets. That’s because ultrasonic sensors work by transmitting ultrasonic waves at the user’s finger. The sensor uses these waves to read the ridges and pores of the fingerprint and matches them with the one stored on the device to provide access.
If a fingerprint is stored on the device with the cover in place, the sensor doesn’t read the fingerprint as much as it reads the case’s dotted pattern. So anyone can unlock a device with such a case by just pressing down on the fingerprint reader, it doesn’t matter if their fingerprint isn’t stored on the device.
Samsung advises that users should remove such covers and delete all previous fingerprints before registering their fingerprints on the device again. To ensure security, it advises users to refrain from using such covers on their device until the software update is released. Once the update is installed, Samsung recommends scanning your fingerprint in its entirety, so that all of the portions including the center and corners are fully scanned.
