Last week Samsung suffered its greatest embarrassment since the exploding Note 7. And for the millions of Galaxy S10 and Note 10 owners, there are now new warnings you need to know about.
The excellent BleepingComputer reports that major banks have started pulling their apps from Galaxy S10 and Note 10 phones and issuing warnings to customers that their devices are insecure.
“We’ve removed the app from the Play Store for customers with Samsung S10 devices,” said National Westminster (NatWest) in the UK. “This is due to reports that there are security concerns regarding these devices. We hope to have our app available again shortly once the issue has been resolved.”
A similar message was issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and the procedure appears to be spreading. “Same for me with my bank app in Israel, but mine only disabled login by FP and they are right to do so,” reports one Reddit user
Interestingly, US banks haven’t made any public announcements yet, though another Reddit user notes “My bank in the US didn’t let me use it (Samsung Pay) at the ATM.” I suspect these reports will quickly multiply as banks rush to protect Galaxy S10 and Note 10 owners. Furthermore, this is smart decision. If you missed my original report, it was discovered that silicone confuses the ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader used in both devices allowing them to be unlocked by any fingerprint. This doesn’t just apply to unlocking the phones, but every area where fingerprint security is used, including financial transactions and banking apps.
Samsung itself has promised a quick fix, though signs of an early rollout have so far failed to materialise for Galaxy S10 and Note 10 users. And until it does, these phones remain highly vulnerable – particularly if stolen – so disable your fingerprint readers and warn other owners to do the same until further notice.
And the timing for Samsung couldn’t be worse. Excitement has been building around the company after new leaks for the Galaxy S11 suggest it will be a truly major upgrade and the company also has not just one, but two revolutionary tech advances coming in 2020.
So yes, Samsung needs to change the narrative. This fix needs to come out. And fast.
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