A recent face recognition research test conducted by the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Tsinghua University showed that 19 Chinese-made branded cell phone face recognition systems could be unlocked by using relevant photos and a pair of glasses. The results of this test have sparked public concern over issues such as personal information security.
Recently, Tsinghua University made public a study on the vulnerability of face recognition technology, and after some tests, the results “successfully unlocked different brands and models of pre-selected Chinese smartphones within 15 minutes”. The incident immediately aroused widespread public concern.
According to the land media, RealAI, an artificial intelligence company set up by Tsinghua University’s Institute of Artificial Intelligence, built a pair of glasses after research and tried to use the glasses and some means to crack the face recognition technology of cell phones.
The research team selected a sample of 20 smartphones, including one foreign brand and 19 domestic brands, with three to four models at different price points under each brand, ranging from low-end to flagship.
Their test method was mainly to print out the eye area pattern on the owner’s photo, cut it out and paste it on the glasses frame, then let the tester put on the glasses, face the tested phone and unlock it using face recognition.
As a result, the test took only about 15 minutes to successfully crack the face recognition system of 19 of the domestic smartphones, and only the sample iPhone 11 could not be cracked by this method.
The team said they also used the samples to unlock the face recognition systems of more than a dozen financial and government service cell phone applications, and even successfully impersonated the phone owners to complete a bank account online.
In fact, mainland Chinese media reported back in 2019 that elementary school students at a school in Zhejiang successfully unlocked a community shipping container used to collect mail using a printed photo instead of a real person’s face.
In recent years, China’s “face recognition” technology has developed rapidly, bringing convenience to people’s lives while also posing new risks to the security of personal information.
Starting December 1, 2019, the Chinese government will require cell phone users on the mainland to undergo facial recognition when registering for new cell phone services, citing the need to “maintain network security. In response, Jeffrey Ding, a Chinese artificial intelligence researcher at Oxford University, noted that “another possible motivation is for the government to be able to better track users and centrally monitor each user’s phone, which is at least what the authorities intend to do now.
At one point in 2020, rumors were rife overseas that mainland China’s Taobao, Idlefish and other e-commerce platforms, as well as within WeChat and qq groups, were selling batches of Chinese people’s face information cheaply, complete with corresponding ID information.
The face recognition system of cell phones can be easily unlocked by taking a few very simple steps, which means that others can easily open various software in your phone, change your password at will, and even dominate the virtual currency in your phone, your personal privacy will become completely transparent, chatting content, private photos, private videos, and confidential documents may be made public. This grim reality is a wake-up call to cell phone users who are gullible to technical convenience.
Recent Comments