There's a galaxy-sized security hole in Samsung's S10 smartphone

Let me break it to you as gently as possible: If you dot your tapping swiping and scrolling on a Samsung Galaxy S10, your handset's security is currently a joke. According to TechCrunch, an S10 user in the UK has reported that her handset's screen lock can easily be cleared by any old fingerprint you'd care to smoosh against the smartphone's display.

From TechCrunch:

The flaw was discovered after placing a $3.50 screen protector on the device, confirming earlier reports that adding one could introduce an air gap that interfered with the ultrasonic scanner. The company noted the issue in a statement, telling the press that it was, “aware of the case of S10’s malfunctioning fingerprint recognition and will soon issue a software patch.”

...Samsung has warned against the use of screen protectors previously, but the ability to fool the product with a cheap off the shelf mobile accessory clearly presents a major and unexpected security concern for Galaxy users.

A four buck piece of plastic can defeat the security on a $1,000 handset. What's not to love?

The fix that Samsung's quickly cooking up for this issue is no doubt keeping their software engineers busier than a cat trying to bury a turd in a marble floor. Until that fix drops, Android provides a number of other methods for keeping your digital goods locked away from the world. If'n you don't want your data hanging out for the world to peruse, you'd do well to switch over to using an alpha numeric code or pattern lock to keep your data safe.