Face unlock on bitcoin wallet devices

[Cantsay]

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Fingerprint is not secure, what about face unlock?

OT- It reminds me of an incident that occurred recently while transacting with my normal bank app, I enabled confirming transaction with my Face ID which means as soon as I input the amount I wanted to send and click on “ok” instead of inputting my bank pin I’d have to just use my face and it happened that I added an extra “0” to the money that I was supposed to send and as soon as I clicked okay it got confirmed with my face although I was later refunded the extra because I knew the person.

 Now look at it from the angle, once someone is able to gain access to your phone all they have to do is to place it in front of your face and they’ll have access to your account and do whatever that they want to do without having to force your passcode from you. To me I won’t enable it in my wallet even if the option is made available to me.

[Razmirraz]

In my opinion fingerprints are safer than face unlock security, fingerprints are difficult to back up when your cellphone is stolen or taken by someone who knows you, while face unlock can still be manipulated with your photo. Each individual has a different way of choosing wallet security, some prefer using complex passwords with different characters, face unlock security and fingerprint security.

Choosing the level of security on your wallet needs to be considered when you are pressed, have a serious accident, or are exposed to water containing chemical compounds (sulphuric acid) which results in your face being damaged, memory loss or forgetfulness. However, fingerprint security remains safe unless one of the fingers used is broken or amputated, but this incident is very rare.

[BIT-BENDER]

Iny own opinion finger print and face lock should be put under the same category of security measures and they should share same positivity and negativity as well, they both require the use of the owner to unlock the device but finger print requires physical contact.

I haven't use anyone of them ever since I had a glitch and my friend was able to use his finger print to unlock my device although this happened once but that once could easily have spelt doom if it was the wrong person, so I don't advice finger or face lock security.

[Franctoshi]

Even with facial recognition which is already integrated into our smartphones, I have never preferred using it as a method of security in my device because I feel insecure with it let alone using it in my mobile wallet where I have some funds in it,  someone can easily scan your face even when you are sleeping or get access by other methods to compromise your wallet, I'm ok with high secured password.

[ImThour]

I actually use FaceID for all of my wallets and applications, I feel like it's secure and can only be accessed by me. No way anyone is able to make a replicate of me as FaceID by Apple is a very advanced and fairly tested methodology and it should be by default used and suggested to users with any money related application rather it be a Banking App or A Crypto Wallet. Exchanges are also using this for 2FA on login which is great. Fingerprints are outdated and I don't think that is reliable as most of the smartphones no longer have finger scan.

[Aikidoka]

I believe that using face unlock adds an effective layer of security especially when we are talking about the use of a small amount of BTC on your phone. IMO the optimal approach involves employing two separate apps on your phone for conducting transactions, thus enhancing security. The first app would be utilized for creating the transaction, while the second one would serve to confirm the transaction using a different code. I'm curious to know if there's a wallet with this kind of functionality available for phones.

To be honest, I haven't used a Bitcoin wallet on my phone so I have no idea if that's available.

However, I believe that if your phone maintains a high level of security and you refrain from installing suspicious software on your device, utilizing face ID to unlock your app should provide a good protection so far.

[dkbit98]

Few days ago I saw latest thing used by scammers and hackers to easily unlock any devices that have biometrics face lock.
They only need one regular photo from phone owner, than they create video from that by adding same photo multiple times in a same way like movies are made...  this was later used to unlock phones.
Using biometrics alone is not safe, but using it in combination with strong password is not a bad idea.
Nobody is going to enter long password for unlocking phone every time.

[_act_]

Few days ago I saw latest thing used by scammers and hackers to easily unlock any devices that have biometrics face lock.
They only need one regular photo from phone owner, than they create video from that by adding same photo multiple times in a same way like movies are made...  this was later used to unlock phones.
Using biometrics alone is not safe, but using it in combination with strong password is not a bad idea.
Nobody is going to enter long password for unlocking phone every time.

I do not understand what you are saying. You first said that face unlock can be manipulated in a way someone's photo can be used to unlock the device. Later you said using it with a long password is good. If someone phone is stolen with the long password phone, the person photo can still be used to unlock the device. Which means it is not good to use face unlock.

[Coyster]

IMO the optimal approach involves employing two separate apps on your phone for conducting transactions, thus enhancing security. The first app would be utilized for creating the transaction, while the second one would serve to confirm the transaction using a different code. I'm curious to know if there's a wallet with this kind of functionality available for phones.

There is no such thing as what you're explaining, i think what you are trying to suggest is an air-gapped wallet, but this isn't how it works. If what you meant is an air-gapped wallet, it works with two devices; not "two separate apps", the first device is offline whilst the other is online (and is watching-only), the latter creates the transaction and also broadcasts it, whilst the former signs the transaction. As for wallets you can create an air-gapped wallets on, electrum is perfect for it.

[dkbit98]

I do not understand what you are saying. You first said that face unlock can be manipulated in a way someone's photo can be used to unlock the device. Later you said using it with a long password is good. If someone phone is stolen with the long password phone, the person photo can still be used to unlock the device. Which means it is not good to use face unlock.

I am afraid you will never understand it. 

[Bushdark]

Even with facial recognition which is already integrated into our smartphones, I have never preferred using it as a method of security in my device because I feel insecure with it let alone using it in my mobile wallet where I have some funds in it,  someone can easily scan your face even when you are sleeping or get access by other methods to compromise your wallet, I'm ok with high secured password.

Using face unlock is not a good way for us to unlock our wallet especially most of the mining apps that will require people to do face verification before they can move from testnet to mainet and I see it as a wrong step at any point. There are wallets that will want us to use fa e verification to safeguard our wallet from unapproved people around. If the verification is from the phone security itself, that could be better but it should not be from a random wallet or app asking us to complete a face verification to use our wallet.

[nakamura12]

I also bave done the same where I didn't store too much Bitcoin in my wallet. I didn't even set a fingerprint unlock that's why I also didn't use face unlock. Anyway, I am not sure if they found out your wallet but need photo of the owner to unlock it because I think it's possible to use photo of the owner to unlock the wallet or even the phone. I also haven't heard someone's funds or money got stolen when his/her wallet required face to unlock or even fingerprint.

[sokani]

They are almost thesame because don't be surprised that when you're sleeping someone can just have access to your phone and place the phone right to your face to get unlocked,

What you said is possible with fingerprint, an intruder can gain access to your phone when you're sleeping by using your fingerprint but I don't think Face lock works the same way. I think the eyes need to be opened and probably blink once to unlock. I've never used Face lock before but I need to test this theory to be certain. A strong password combination is still the best and most effective in securing your wallet or phone.

using password, biometrics or face unlocked features are just device and apps sensitive, they don't secure our funds on the wallet.

Password does add a layer of security to your wallet. Some mobile wallets like Electrum requires you to enter your password in other to gain access to the wallet. Except you failed to password protect your wallet when setting it up.

[Woodie]

To be honest I believe the problem actually lies with us the end users! We are always looking for convenience in trying  to save us time from the process of copying a private key and pasting it..which has pushed these app developers to use biometrics to allow us access to our wallets ( surprisingly bank apps do this too) and I don't see this stopping any time soon as no serious losses have been reported yet...
Btw when it comes to biometrics locks, isn't this dependant on the security of the operating system...if it can be fooled with a picture of you then don't consider  enabling it.

But on the bright side, if someone had passed on and their device had all these wallets biometric locked..it means access to the treasure can easily be retrieved by a spouse unlike a wallet locked by a pvt key which once key isn't found its over for you.

[Asuspawer09]

It is on this forum that I knew using fingerprint to unlock wallet device is not good, specifically mobile phones. We know already that we should not have too much bitcoin on a mobile wallet. Let us assume that you have little amount of bitcoin on a mobile bitcoin wallet like Electrum or Bluewallet but you still want security.

Fingerprint is not secure, what about face unlock?

I wouldn't actually trust both fingerprint and face unlock, I mean fingerprint I guess is more secure because face unlock is not that reliable and there are a lot of times when it completely fails especially if you change your look, or maybe we just grow and its normal that over time our face change. Both of these securities are not that reliable because they can easily be cracked and I wouldn't really use this on my Bitcoin wallet. It wasn't really some kind of encryption, the fingerprint can be used if you want to be convenient since you could easily access your wallet using your fingerprint and not using your password but it just wasn't fully secured.

I guess if it is a multiple layer of security we could use something like this, with your seep phrase password, and then throw in another layer of security using the fingerprint. I just dont think that the face unlock is a great security it needs a lot more improvement, Even on top-of-the-line devices there are times when this face unlock fails which is really annoying.

[hatshepsut93]

In the worst-case scenario if someone tries to rob your Bitcoin wallet and they catch you so imagine accessing the wallet with biometrics is just simple they can touch your thumb or show it towards your face but if its a password they can't access it unless you spill.

In this worst case scenario you already lost, because you will give up your coins when your life will be threatened. The only protection from these situations is to never get into them in the first place.

Protecting your all Bitcoin savings with a fingerprint or face id is stupid, but using it for a small wallet for daily spendings is totally acceptable. And the biggest threat to mobile wallets is malware, so it's best to focus on never getting it on your device.

[Asiska02]

It is on this forum that I knew using fingerprint to unlock wallet device is not good, specifically mobile phones. We know already that we should not have too much bitcoin on a mobile wallet. Let us assume that you have little amount of bitcoin on a mobile bitcoin wallet like Electrum or Bluewallet but you still want security.

Fingerprint is not secure, what about face unlock?

Fingerprints are more secured than face unlock because I have witness a case where identical twins were able to unlock each others phone by their faces. The best thing to do is to keep your password very safe and non accessible to anyone, you can’t trust all, so make sure your password is not disclosable to anyone.

Anybody that have access to your password can easily add their fingerprints to the phone and will be able to have access to your wallet and get away with your funds simpler than a thief stealing your phone and trying to crack your password before accessing your phone.

Nowadays, applications do enable adding fingerprints or face unlock as alternative to password for easy accessibility. If your application already enabled that in your phone, it’ll be very easy to access the wallet and steal your money when anyone who knows your password gets hold of your phone.

[passwordnow]

If it's a small amount, any security measure that I like to explore will do. But I just want to take it the traditional way by adding a 2FA or any password that I only know. As long as I am not compromising myself and I know my history when I use the web and my smartphones as well, then the traditional will be fine for me. I'm conscious but I want to do it in a natural and easy way. Because being complex could also put some effort and make things complicated like fingerprint and eye scanner unlock.

[Sarah Azhari]

Anyway, I am not sure if they found out your wallet but need photo of the owner to unlock it because I think it's possible to use photo of the owner to unlock the wallet or even the phone.

As far as I know, Face ID like on iPhone uses 3D technology to map your face. I've experienced using it to unlock my girl's phone with her photo, but it won't unlock the iPhone. But, even if it can't, I don't recommend installing a wallet on the phone even if it's for a few BTC. because I lost 0.0005 BTC saved in my wallet phone some time ago. yeah, it's not much, but with that experience, I don't want to save BTC on my wallet phone anymore.

[YUriy1991]

Many users want to manage their crypto assets easily and securely while eliminating the common risks associated with private key management and account recovery and now many platforms are trying to provide more specialized services as you mentioned in managing wallets that may be stored and accessible through mobile.

It's true as the OP said and it has also been applied by large companies such as Apple and Microsoft which have used Biometric Facial authentication as the main authentication factor in their newest products. But I think there are also challenges that arise with biometrics on devices when the original device is no longer accessible, for example lost or stolen, or never had native support for Biometrics included when it was manufactured.