Security company bypasses Apple Face ID with mask

A security company has managed to circumvent Apple’s facial recognition technology Face ID. For this, the company used a specially prepared mask, which was made with a 3D printer. Since it’s not a simple trick, regular users don’t seem to have to worry about their security.

The method to circumvent Face ID was developed by security company Bkav, which explains in the form of an interview how his specially prepared face mask works. A commercially available 3D printer was used for the facial contours, and things like the eyes were made by a conventional printer. This managed to trick Face ID into thinking it was actually a person trying to unlock the iPhone.

Bkav argues that it was able to deceive Face ID because it knows where the software checks for similarities with the face it was trained on. According to the security researchers, it took about five days to make the mask. Bkav states that Apple is not very strict when it comes to validating the face that tries to unlock the iPhone.

The mask ultimately cost $150 to make, which is about $129. Since it also requires a 3d printer, regular users probably don’t have to worry about this trick. It probably only poses a possible risk to famous and important people, such as politicians. For the time being, however, this is a ‘proof of concept’, and it is not clear how easy it is to actually put the use of a mask into practice.