14 DAY TRIAL // Following Apple's iPhone 5s launch, mobile security firm Lookout reports that, despite potential weaknesses, fingerprint sensors offer "undoubted opportunities for improved security."
UPDATE:article modified to reflect Lookout's full point of view in regard's to Marc Roger's commen; Lookout was misquoted, the company tells us.
As you might have already heard, the latest and greatest iPhone (which Apple starts selling next week), is equipped with this cool fingerprint sensor called “Touch ID” which reads your thumbprint for unlocking the device, or making App Store transactions.
The functionality is definitely bridging James Bond movies with reality, but nowadays fingerprint scanners are a commodity. However, for smartphones, it's a first.
Previously misquoted in UK newspapers, mobile security firm Lookout reached out to Softpedia to clarify that the company "does not believe that thieves chopping off fingers to gain access to phones is a valid risk with fingerprint technology."
Instead, "Lookout believes that fingerprint technology is full of exciting promise for consumers and mobile security: if implemented correctly, consumers will have a convenient way to secure their device and fingerprint technology has the potential to usher in a new generation of secure mobile services."