---
title: "Oops: Samsung Admits Anyone’s Thumbprint Can Unlock Its New Phone"
description: "Tech giant Samsung has admitted that any thumbprint can unlock its Galaxy S10 phone — a flabbergasting security misstep for a leading iPhone competitor."
date: "2019-10-18"
modified: "2019-10-18"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/samsung-thumbprint-unlock-phone"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "cybersecurity"
  - "Samsung"
  - "smartphones"
  - "the digest"
---

# Oops: Samsung Admits Anyone’s Thumbprint Can Unlock Its New Phone

![Tech giant Samsung has admitte that any thumbprint can unlock its Galaxy S10 phone — a flabbergasting security misstep for a leading iPhone competitor.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/oops-samsung-admits-anyones-thumbprint-can-unlock-its-new-phone.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Image via Pixabay/Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## All Thumbs

Tech giant Samsung has [admitted to the *BBC*](<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50080586>) that a flaw with its flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone means that any thumbprint can unlock it — a flabbergasting security misstep for a leading iPhone competitor.

The company also [confirmed to *CNBC* ](<https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/17/samsung-working-to-fix-security-flaw-that-allows-any-fingerprint.html>) that it's "aware of the case of S10's malfunctioning fingerprint recognition and will soon issue a software patch."

## Revolution #S10

The vulnerability was first [reported by *The Sun*](<https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/10127908/samsung-galaxy-s10-screen-protector-ebay/>), which learned of it from a British woman who noticed that both her thumbs unlocked her Galaxy S10 even though she'd only configured it to recognize her right one.

When she noticed that both thumbs worked, she enlisted her husband to unlock the phone — and then raised the alarm when she realized how serious the problem was.

An added bit of irony pointed out by the *BBC*: When Samsung launched the Galaxy S10 earlier this year, it [called the device's fingerprint authentication system](<https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-s10/design/>) "revolutionary."

**READ MORE:** [Samsung is fixing a flaw that lets anybody unlock a Galaxy S10 phone with their fingerprint](<https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/17/samsung-working-to-fix-security-flaw-that-allows-any-fingerprint.html>) \[*CNBC*\]

**More on cybersecurity:** [*US Navy Struggling to Deal With an Onslaught of Hackers*](<https://futurism.com/navy-struggling-onslaught-hackers>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)