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Researchers create more efficient mask to trick Face ID using photos

The Vietnamese researchers who created a mask that defeated the iPhone X's Face ID feature claim to have made a new mask that unlocks the phone the same way an identical twin would, making their proof of concept more consistent using surreptitiously snagged photographs.

Bkav security researchers upped the severity rating of their initial attack to suggesting that all users should be concerned with the vulnerability and not use the feature to conduct business transactions as opposed to just some high profile individuals, according to a Nov. 27 blog post.  

Researchers say they have found a new way to trick Face ID with a mask made of stone powder, with glued 2D images of eyes printed from infrared images.

“There is absolutely no learning of Face ID with the new mask in this experiment,” researchers said in the post. “Bkav names this new mask "the artificial twin", since this research has shown that the way an iPhone X unlocked by the mask is similar to by twins.”

Similar to the mask used in their first proof of concept, the latest mask only cost around $200 to create while the initial mask cost around $150.

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