Fix for Nokia 9 fingerprint scanner security issue coming soon, confirms HMD executive

Nokia 9 PureView (more popularly called Nokia 9) is HMD’s this year’s high-end device fueled by Snapdragon 845 processor. This Android One phone comes with Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. It is aided by 6 GB RAM and 128GB non-expandable internal storage, and bears a 3,320 mAh battery.

The device grabbed a lot attention for its rear cover design with seven holes, which were initially confused for seven cameras. Though it later turned out to be a penta camera array at the back.

Since its inception, the phone has grabbed a lot of bad press for its buggy and insecure fingerprint sensor that lets unregistered fingerprints by pass the lock screen. Forget fingerprints, users were able to fool the device even with the a pack of chewing gum. That’s insane and immensely insecure.

The matter caught heat a couple of months back soon after user (@decodedpixel) shared on Twitter a video proof of their Nokia 9 unit bypassing fingerprint lockscreen with unregistered fingerprints of others or even random objects like a pack of gums.

The company’s Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas reached out to the complainant, informing them they were not able to reproduce the issue, but the company will still look into the matter. Here’s what Juho said to the concerned user:

We have not been able to reproduce the issue. Our team in UK will reach out to you. It would be super helpful if we could swap your unit so that we can investigate this.

Following that, came more reports from other users who were able to reproduce the same issue on their Nokia 9 units. Here are some of the recent ones for you to take a quick look at:

https://twitter.com/TechAltar/status/1142122207369420800
https://twitter.com/LukyanovAleksey/status/1132993688102154241

When the matter was first reported, it appeared Nokia wasn’t able to reproduce the issue. However, things appear to have changed in the past couple of months. Going by the latest statement from HMD executive Juho, the problem has been successfully debugged by the company.

Not only that, they also plan to release a fix for the issue sometime soon, so that the users who have been facing the glitch for months now, can finally get to use their flagship units without any security threats. Here’s what Juho said regarding this while reverting back to a complainant few hours back:

This issue manifests only in very narrow sample size. We been hard at work identifying root cause, fixing and most importantly testing since we take security very seriously. Expect a patch shortly.

That means, this long due problem will finally get the fix it has been waiting for. Here’s hoping the promised patch gets rolling soon. Rest assured, like always, we’re keeping an active tab on all related developments and will let you know as and when the fix gets live.

NOTE: For more Nokia related bugs/issues, news and stuff, interested readers may head here.

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