Over-train Apple's Touch ID
First and foremost I have to give a shout out to Steve Gibson of the Gibson Research Corporation https://www.grc.com who initially discovered this and the TWiT network http://twit.tv who creates the SecurityNow! podcast where I heard about it.
If you use Apple's Touch ID, the finger print scanning technology in the home button of the iPhone 5s, then you have probably noticed that the recognition of your print tends to fade over time. The problem is where Apple decides the line should be drawn between the ease of setup and having enough captures of your print to build out a dependable template of your print. It turns out that you can give it more captures (i.e. overtrain) for one finger by doing the following:
1.) Go to Settings --> General --> Touch ID & Passcode
2.) At this point you will have to enter your passcode
3.) Go to Touch ID
4.) At this screen you should see the options for what you want TouchID to control on your mobile device as well as a listing of fingers at the bottom; e.g. Finger 1, Finger 2
5.) If you place one of your already registered fingers on the TouchID sensor (home button) while on this screen you should see the appropriate bar for the finger (e.g. Finger 1) quickly flash a darker grey. Each time it flashes it is capturing another sample. Feel free to slowly move your finger around, tilt it up, etc. so it gets a good mapping of your entire finger. In this way you should be able to greatly reduce the chance of a misread.
***With all this said, I have registered my same thumb twice for the following reason. I live in northern Pennsylvania and we have been having some really low temperatures lately; this morning my car read the lowest I've seen of the year, -27 degrees F. The cold seems to affect my prints considerably enough that, even with over-training, I just can't get a successful read. So, I trained my severely -27 degree F thumb as a totally separate finger and it has seemed to do the trick.
***Yes, I know. I probably shouldn't even be taking my phone out of my pocket under -27 degree F conditions, but it happens.
If you use Apple's Touch ID, the finger print scanning technology in the home button of the iPhone 5s, then you have probably noticed that the recognition of your print tends to fade over time. The problem is where Apple decides the line should be drawn between the ease of setup and having enough captures of your print to build out a dependable template of your print. It turns out that you can give it more captures (i.e. overtrain) for one finger by doing the following:
1.) Go to Settings --> General --> Touch ID & Passcode
2.) At this point you will have to enter your passcode
3.) Go to Touch ID
4.) At this screen you should see the options for what you want TouchID to control on your mobile device as well as a listing of fingers at the bottom; e.g. Finger 1, Finger 2
5.) If you place one of your already registered fingers on the TouchID sensor (home button) while on this screen you should see the appropriate bar for the finger (e.g. Finger 1) quickly flash a darker grey. Each time it flashes it is capturing another sample. Feel free to slowly move your finger around, tilt it up, etc. so it gets a good mapping of your entire finger. In this way you should be able to greatly reduce the chance of a misread.
***With all this said, I have registered my same thumb twice for the following reason. I live in northern Pennsylvania and we have been having some really low temperatures lately; this morning my car read the lowest I've seen of the year, -27 degrees F. The cold seems to affect my prints considerably enough that, even with over-training, I just can't get a successful read. So, I trained my severely -27 degree F thumb as a totally separate finger and it has seemed to do the trick.
***Yes, I know. I probably shouldn't even be taking my phone out of my pocket under -27 degree F conditions, but it happens.
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