Fingerprint scanner hacked already.

You know that amazing new Samsung Galaxy S5 you just got? The phone that lets you act superior to all those Luddites still using an iPhone? The one that is at the forefront of smartphone design? Well I have some bad news; the fingerprint scanner has been hacked already.

It only took a few days, but the researchers used a trick employed by a hacking group who bypassed the iPhone’s fingerprint scanner last year, and posted a video on YouTube showing them making the breach. They hack involves a photo of a fingerprint and glue, and although they don’t say it outright, it’s actually very similar to the method for finding latent fingerprints on compromised or porous materials in criminal investigations. Additionally, contrary to what they imply, making the false fingerprint is non-trivial and not something the average low-level criminal would be doing. At least not yet.

By doing this, they were able to gain access not just to the phone, but to the apps included such as PayPal and make purchases and money transfers. The very dryly narrated (VERY dryly narrated) video explaining their process is below. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t tell you anything but it’s all they gave us.