Ever so often, we have seen in movies how the criminals would hack off a person’s finger simply to get his fingerprints to unlock a high-security facility. Rest assured, this is not happening with iPhone 5S because the Touch ID sensor of the handset doesn’t work with a ‘dead’ finger.
In other words, if a finger is severed from a human body and is then pressed against the Home button, the Touch ID sensor of iPhone 5S will not register it as a valid input. This is because the Touch ID sensor goes beyond what run-of-the-mill fingerprint scanners offer.
Usually, such scanners note the ridge and valley information from the external enveloper of the finger. However, in the case of iPhone 5S, the sensor goes beyond the uppermost layer of the finger and notes the details of the living layer of skin under the surface of the finger. This is done using an RF signal.
Naturally, this must be a relief for all such users who have been fearing for their fingers. You can now rest assured that some criminal wouldn’t try to hack off your finger and try to unlock your iPhone 5S with it. However, that still doesn’t provide protection against a nosy girlfriend/boyfriend in a relationship who may want to use your finger on the iPhone Home button while you are asleep. But well, if you anticipate such a stealth operation, you can always turn on pattern lock or some other mode of lockscreen security.
Courtesy: Redmond Pie
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