Samsung to deploy software patch after Galaxy S10 fingerprint flaw found

A flaw with Samsung's top-end Galaxy S10 fingerprint system that allows the smartphone to be opened by a third party will soon be fixed, the tech giant said Thursday. A user in the UK told the Sun newspaper earlier this week her Samsung device could be unlocked by someone else simply by putting on a screen protector and applying an unregistered fingerprint.

"This means that if anyone got hold of my phone they can access it and within moments could be into the financial apps and be transferring funds," she was quoted as saying by the British paper. Samsung's spokesperson in Seoul said the company will soon roll out a fix, but did not say what caused the recognition problem.

"We are investigating this issue and will be deploying a software patch soon," she told AFP. The world's biggest smartphone maker has touted the phone's in-display fingerprint sensor as "revolutionary". Samsung is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in the world's 11th-largest economy, and crucial to South Korea's economic health.