I always try to keep my sensitive information secure, usually
using an application that encrypts the information and requires authorization
for the application to open. I always felt secure until my phone was stolen. I
was calm in general but something kept me uneasy and it was the fact that 2 of
my secure applications use my fingerprints as a way to authorize the access, by
opening the application and showing the encrypted data. I know that in general an
iPhone is secure, however, looking into the Internet I found many web sites
that claim to be able to unlock an iPhone using the fingerprints obtained from
different sources, one even claimed of having use a fingerprint photo to unlock
a phone, there are many videos mostly showing iPhones 5 been unlocked using different
techniques to simulate your fingerprints to unlock the phone.
I can’t verify if those videos or articles provide true information
but I started to feel that my information may be compromise. It is usually a
bad idea to use the same password for everything and for the fingerprint
applies the same. You can use it to unlock your phone and also to have access
to secure applications.
What I am trying to tell is that, even though, phones
provide a good security mechanism and probably the thefts are not interested in
your information but in the handset itself it is a good idea to use different
passwords for different things. My suggestion will be if you use your
fingerprint to unlock your phone, do not use it to unlock your sensitive
information by allowing secure applications to use the same authorization mechanism
to open.
By the way, if you need a secure application to store your data, my recommendation
is mSecure.
