Researchers reveal bypassing Apple’s Face ID using special glasses

Researchers have found a way to bypass Apple’s Face ID using a pair of glasses with tape on them.

According to an article on Threatpost, the authentication feature isn’t able to detect 3D information from the eye area when it recognizes the glasses.

Tencent researchers were able to tap into a feature behind biometrics called “liveness” detection, which scans real vs. fake features on people by “detecting background noise, response distortion or focus blur.”

The researchers looked into how the detection scans an individual’s eyes and discovered that the detector scans the eye differently if a person is wearing glasses.

A 9to5Mac article indicated that the researchers were able to take advantage of this weakness by placing a strip of black tape on the glass lens and a strip of white tape inside the black tape. The glasses, called “X-glasses,” allow a user to be able to bypass Apple’s Face ID and gain access to someone’s iPhone.

Researchers Demonstrated Method for Bypassing Face ID on an ‘Unconscious’ Victim’s iPhone Using Glasses and Tape https://t.co/VKFjVvjO9y – During the Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas, researchers demonstrated a Face ID bypass method that used glasse… pic.twitter.com/mTxtkUOLJU

— Dr Vicente Nario (@DrBicentenario) August 9, 2019

The researchers note that this would still be a difficult task because users will have to stay incredibly still to bypass Face ID. So unless the person is unconscious and you place these glasses on them, it might be hard to bypass the authentication process.

This isn’t the first time that someone has tried to bypass Face ID. More recently MobileSyrup reported about a bug in iOS 13 that allows someone to bypass the feature.

Source: Threatpost Via: 9to5Mac