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Cash, liquor, bitcoins offered to first person to hack iPhone 5s fingerprint technology

By John Knicely
By John Knicely

SEATTLE — Devout iPhone fans slept in front of the University Village Apple Store in Seattle to be the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 5s.  As they were setting up their new fingerprint security feature on the phone, a reward was growing online for the first person to hack it.

“I won't be surprised if somebody figures it out, but that's way above my pay grade,” said Jeron Moore, a Nintendo employee who camped out with his pillow and folding chair to get the new iPhone.

The website IsTouchIDhackedyet.com shows a growing list of promises of cash, bitcoins and booze "to the first person who can reliably and repeatedly break into an iPhone 5s by lifting prints (like from a beer mug)."

Arturas Rosenbacher of I/O Capital is promising $10,000. 
“It's going to be broken into, I'm pretty sure of that,” said Rosenbacher. 
On the website his pledge is listed with “maybe: it won’t be escrowed, so consider it high risk.”  Rosenbacher wouldn’t comment on that detail.
“We want somebody to crack this,” he said.  “Because as soon as it gets hacked Apple will shut it down and fix a patch.  Imagine if a hacker or penetrator who wants to use this for negative purposes gets ahold of the fingerprint.”
We asked people who bought the iPhone 5s in Seattle if they are concerned their fingerprint will be hacked.
“If someone cuts my thumb off maybe,” said Moore with a laugh.  “No, I'm trusting that Apple has done the research and has vetted the technology.”

KIRO

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