About a week ago, there were reports that the Samsung Galaxy S10 on-screen fingerprint sensor has a flaw that makes it vulnerable. Subsequently, there were reports that the Galaxy Note 10 also has a similar vulnerability. These series use an ultrasonic on-screen fingerprint which is an improvement. However, it does not work well with a tempered glass screen protector. With a glass screen protector, any fingerprint can unlock the device. This is a huge security breach, especially for financial transactions. For now, Samsung advised users to desist from non-Samsung glass screen protectors while it works on an update to solve the issue.
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However, banks across the globe are not taking any chances. Some financial institutions in China, Isreal, and the UK have taken significant measures. A British bank, NatWest, and a Chinese bank, Bank of China, completely disabled their apps from Samsung Galaxy S10 users until Samsung solves the security problem. In addition, another British financial institution, Nationwide Building Society, has a more gentle approach, and they decided to remove the option to fingerprint login from the app. In addition, Israeli netizens said that their bank also removed the option to fingerprint login from the app.
Samsung recommends that the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 series users should remove the protective cover. In addition, they have to delete all old fingerprints and re-register new fingerprints. Samsung said it will release a fix next week to resolve the security breach. Is the fingerprint option on your banking app still active? Let us know in the comment section below.
