Fingerprint spoofing on remote wipe could leave iPhone 5S vulnerable

The future of security likely lies in biometrics of some sort, but the problems that have plagued the iPhone 5S and their fingerprint unlocking option have many security companies showing its vulnerabilities.

A German security company says spoofing the iPhone 5S’s fingerprint reader can be used to beat the phone’s “remote wipe” facility to carry out identity theft.

SRL demonstrates the hack on its website. It relies on the phone’s owner using a number of defaults in the setup of the phone. It does not work against iPhones without a fingerprint reader.