iPhone X news: Even a mask can fool face recognition technology of Apple's flagship device

A team of researchers from Vietnam has claimed that they have successfully fooled iPhone X's face authentication system with a mask

A man looks at the screen of his mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China on July 30, 2017.
Reuters

A team of researchers from Vietnam has claimed that they have successfully fooled Apple iPhone X's face authentication system with a mask. If their claims are true, then it will surely act as a setback for Apple's most premium product which was launched in the market a week back. The researchers also claimed that the face recognition system in iPhone X is not matured enough to guarantee the security of the gadget.

Apple's promise going in vain?

During the launch of Apple iPhone X, the company's Senior Vice President Phil Schiller had claimed that the face recognition system in the device is capable of offering impeccable security, and also added that it can distinguish a real human face from masks.

According to the Vietnamese researchers at the security firm Bkav, the mask they created with 3D printing just cost $150, and it easily fooled the face recognition system of the device. It should be noted that Bkav was the first security company to prove the non-effectiveness of face recognition technology when Toshiba, Lenovo and Asus used it on their laptops.

"Nose was made by a handmade artist. We use 2D printing for other parts (similar to how we tricked Face Recognition nine years ago). The skin was also hand-made to trick Apple's Artificial Intelligence," said the researchers in a recent blog post.

Ngo Tuan Anh, Bkav's Vice President of Cyber Security revealed that the researchers did special processing on the cheek areas to fool the artificial intelligence in the gadget. According to Bkav security experts, the face recognition technology in Apple iPhone X is not an effective security measure, as it can be easily fooled with a mask. The security firm also revealed that Apple's face recognition system is not as strict as one could expect, and added that the mobile manufacturer is relying more on Face ID's artificial intelligence.

As of now, Apple has not officially reacted to the claims made by Bkav.

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