Samsung appears to have a major security issue with its Galaxy S10.
It's been discovered that some screen protectors can mess with the Galaxy S10's in-display fingerprint reader, allowing anyone's fingerprint to unlock the device. A report from The Sun details how a British woman bought a cheap screen protector from eBay and found after it was applied that her left thumb print unlocked the phone, even though it was the right thumb print that was registered with the device.
She later discovered that her husband's fingerprints unlocked the phone, too. The same thing happened with her sister's phone after applying the screen protector.
Samsung explains that the patterns of some screen protectors that come with silicone phone cases can be recognized by the phone along with fingerprints. The company told Reuters that it's planning to roll out a software update soon that will fix the problem.
The in-display fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S10 is meant to help users secure their device and all of the personal data that's stored on it, so it's a pretty big security issue that some screen protectors will let any fingerprint unlock the S10. If there is some good news, it's that only select screen protectors cause this issue and not all screen protectors, but this is still a big issue. Hopefully Samsung can indeed get the fix out quickly and ensure that every S10 owner's fingerprint sensor works as it should.
