Sounds like a security update is needed for this instead of "plz update to our shitty new version".

yes, indeed, if you don't have the update that installed automatically on your windows SURFACE, you are prone to someone bringing the printout of your face and unlocking your device to..use it. In this instance I would recommend changing the user of the device. Microsoft already addressed this issue and fixed it and if user failed to update his device for past 2-3 months, clearly there is nothing you can do for that person. edit: The title is a bit misleading, and some people only glance over the text while letting the title sink in deeply. 🙂

The flaw affects multiple different makes of hardware, with the team testing their claim on one of Microsoft's own Surface Pro 4 devices as well as others made by different manufacturers.

It's a Hello problem, not surface. It's as dumb as fixing KRACK on 1709 only.

from reading the text, it's a problem on the Surface Pro too...What other devices use windows 10 and face recognition to secure device? Also, it's a stupid method for lazy people. Use passwords or phrases like if you really care about security. Otherwise, who cares. 1709 fixes the issue, so the issue is deep in the system and one way or the other you have to download something to replace/update something so, what would you propose be done? Time Travel? 🙂

Hello is available on non-MS devices too. I don't care much for it but if they're pushing the feature, they should maintain it as well. All versions of windows 10 are supported at this time and this certainly counts as a security flaw to be fixed on them all. Idk why you're bringing up absurdities like time travel.

because this issue was fixed October 17, 2017. It's a non-issue. Unless for some reason person using face id to unlock the device didn't have updates turned on. Which would be absurd. I bet this came up after the iPhone face unlock feature got made. Maybe not. But really, print someone's face and then go to his office/home to unlock his device...really...

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about the update being rolled out to all versions of windows 10 but never mind.

it clearly says that the issue exists only if you don't have the "fall update" (17 October 2017 was release date of that update). What's so hard to understand about that? 🙂 edit: maybe I misread something...idk...It really doesn't matter at this point.

Heh. Reminds me of a puzzle for an old Graphical Adventure game from the Late 1980s a little gem called Space Quest III by Sierra Online. In the puzzle you full a face recognition scan with a copy of a picture. But on the serious note. This is very bad for users who are still on 1607 like me and have a built in webcam. I do not even have hello Windows setup on my Desktop so I am safe from this.

Facial recognition for security has always been a stupid idea IMO. It will either be strict/inconvenient enough where lighting, hair, or accessories (glasses, piercings, makeup, etc) will make it fail, or, it will be lenient/insecure enough where you can just print a photo and it'll accept you anyway.

Well the facial recognition program is doing its job, face, check, open sesame. There is a camera where I work, that shows rear break room that goes to boss's computer and rumor has it to his house. I took a photo of an empty break room and affixed that picture to camera lens. No one has been caught taking a excessive break in months!

We've known about this problem for a long time. A.I. can't tell the difference between the real moon and a fake one. 😀

This is because facial recognition, as implemented right now, is an absolute joke. How can you take a picture and compare it to a reference picture and expect it to be reliable? A 2D image is easy to trick. You need a technique which maps your facial traits into a 3D model, for example by means of a moving camera or multiple cameras. There may even be other techniques based on other technologies (other types of scanning which are based on hardware other than cameras) which give better results, but my knowledge of the scanning hardware field is limited. Right now we're using cameras because it's the cheapest way, but it's clearly a limited, imperfect solution. I have the feeling this gimmick will die off in the near future and arise again in the further future when we get other specialized scanning hardware that's cheap and can be easily included in laptops or phones.

xIcarus:

You need a technique which maps your facial traits into a 3D model, for example by means of a moving camera or multiple cameras. There may even be other techniques based on other technologies (other types of scanning which are based on hardware other than cameras) which give better results, but my knowledge of the scanning hardware field is limited.

But even that is failure prone. Think about hair (particularly facial hair), hats, or whether someone sometimes wears glasses. I guess you could also consider the rare situation of injurious deformities or plastic surgery, too, but that's getting kind of nitpicky. In order for it to be accurate and secure, it needs to be picky. The more picky it becomes, the more of an inconvenience it will be to the user. Facial recognition is probably the worst form of security no matter what way you look at it and it really should not be pursued. It's nothing more than a cool gimmick that will lose its coolness once people's stuff get hacked so effortlessly. If we're going to use cheap and convenient biometrics for security, one of the swiping fingerprint scanners is the best route, as long as you use something like your pinky or ring finger (which are less likely to be duplicated). The tapping fingerprint readers have been proven over and over again to be insecure, so I don't endorse those. Otherwise, the only biometric that is likely to ever work for security purposes are retinal scanners, but they're pretty uncommon and not very comfortable.

schmidtbag:

But even that is failure prone. Think about hair (particularly facial hair), hats, or whether someone sometimes wears glasses. I guess you could also consider the rare situation of injurious deformities or plastic surgery, too, but that's getting kind of nitpicky. In order for it to be accurate and secure, it needs to be picky. The more picky it becomes, the more of an inconvenience it will be to the user. Facial recognition is probably the worst form of security no matter what way you look at it and it really should not be pursued. It's nothing more than a cool gimmick that will lose its coolness once people's stuff get hacked so effortlessly. If we're going to use cheap and convenient biometrics for security, one of the swiping fingerprint scanners is the best route, as long as you use something like your pinky or ring finger (which are less likely to be duplicated). The tapping fingerprint readers have been proven over and over again to be insecure, so I don't endorse those. Otherwise, the only biometric that is likely to ever work for security purposes are retinal scanners, but they're pretty uncommon and not very comfortable.

Yeah I agree that Facial recognition is pretty terrible because of the many variables such as facial hair etc. I do think that if you are using Biometrics then stick to either fingerprint scanners that you press down on or retinal scanners. At my place of employment we use a fingerprint scanner that you press down on for a few seconds for our time clock.

schmidtbag:

But even that is failure prone. Think about hair (particularly facial hair), hats, or whether someone sometimes wears glasses. I guess you could also consider the rare situation of injurious deformities or plastic surgery, too, but that's getting kind of nitpicky. In order for it to be accurate and secure, it needs to be picky. The more picky it becomes, the more of an inconvenience it will be to the user. Facial recognition is probably the worst form of security no matter what way you look at it and it really should not be pursued. It's nothing more than a cool gimmick that will lose its coolness once people's stuff get hacked so effortlessly. If we're going to use cheap and convenient biometrics for security, one of the swiping fingerprint scanners is the best route, as long as you use something like your pinky or ring finger (which are less likely to be duplicated). The tapping fingerprint readers have been proven over and over again to be insecure, so I don't endorse those. Otherwise, the only biometric that is likely to ever work for security purposes are retinal scanners, but they're pretty uncommon and not very comfortable.

I think you may be right about the deformities and extras like glasses. In case of scanning the face, facial hair may indeed become a huge accuracy killer. I fully agree with the fact that improved security comes at the cost of convenience. Simplest example: powerful passwords are secure but inconvenient. Anyone would much rather not type a password which contains a gang sign, the blood of a virgin, etcetc (like the meme goes).