Samsung rolls out biometric security software patch for Galaxy S10 ultrasonic fingerprint sensor

Samsung is rolling out a biometric security patch for its flagship Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ smartphones to improve its performance, GSMArena reports.

Roughly a week after the ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor was shown to be vulnerable to spoof attacks from 3D-printed surfaces, a modest 6.9MB update is downloaded through the Galaxy Store app, rather than the software update channel, and applied without rebooting. The popup explaining the patch notes that it is for fingerprints. The Galaxy S10e, which has a capacitive fingerprint on its side, instead of the ultrasonic sensor, does not appear to be receiving the patch.

GSMArena noticed a “tremendous improvement” in the sensor’s performance after the patch, matching both more reliably and significantly faster, though not as fast as the Galaxy S10e’s capacitive sensor. It is not immediately clear if the patch makes the Galaxy S10 and S10+ less vulnerable to spoof attacks.

The software update has been expected since Samsung acknowledged some issues with biometric fingerprint performance a month ago, before the spoof attack was revealed. It is the second update rolled out by Samsung for the fingerprint sensor.

The same Qualcomm ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is reportedly implemented in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.

Article Topics

biometric software  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint authentication  |  Samsung  |  smartphones  |  ultrasonic fingerprints