mSecure Support
2 out of 4 devices lost fingerprint unlock on the same day - support not replying
Mike - mSecure
Hi Simon,
Thank you for contacting us, and I'm sorry for the issue you experienced with the biometric unlock feature. There is nothing that we are aware of that did or can happen to break the functionality like you are describing. We only know that when fingerprints are added or removed for the device, the feature gets reset for mSecure. This is so your data is safe in the event an unauthorized person gets hold of your device in an unlocked state. In that situation, even if they add their fingerprint to the device, it won't be able to unlock mSecure.
As far as mSecure app goes, the only way this could happen is if we updated the app and broke something in the process. When you download the new version, it could cause problems. However, we haven't updated either the Windows or Android app recently, and there also isn't any known bugs in this part of the app.
Unfortunately, I don't have an explanation for what caused this to happen, aside from the possibility of the fingerprints being changed on both devices.
Thanks for responding!
I haven't added fingerprints to either device in quite a long time.
It's a bit worrisome that two systems on different OSs lost fingerprint within a couple of hours of each other.
So I can understand better, if you're able to say, with the fingerprint/device PIN/face/etc unlock...
Does the app make a call a server of yours, or does the app on that device itself know to speak directly to the host OS and call the alternative unlock method?
Mike - mSecure
No problem at all Simon...happy to be able to explain things better! All of the biometric functionality is handled locally and by the OS. mSecure, and other third party apps for that matter, only tie in to the OS's implementation of the biometric feature. No part of the security is handled by us. On a really high level, mSecure will simply tell the OS, "I need to authenticate this user," and the OS shows the biometric dialog. After the fingerprint or face is recognized by the OS features, the OS responds with "Authentication passed/failed" and then responds accordingly. It all takes place locally on the device.
Thanks for the explanation!
Simon
3 days ago 2 of my devices stopped prompting me for fingerprint unlock within an hour or 2 of each other, Android phone and Windows 10 laptop. I didn't remember my password so started to panic.
I logged a ticket on the same day (#65763) and have not yet received a response.
A couple of days later I attempted another device (Windows 10 laptop) and it did prompt me for fingerprint unlock. Crisis averted. I've been able to log in to the first 2 devices and re-enable fingerprint unlock.
Is there something that occurred 3 days ago to break the connection to non-password unlock?
I find it a bit too coincidental that mSecure on different platforms, both stopped accepting alternative unlock methods. Did something occur to break an API connection or reset registry key?