“…2019 could be a year in which major hack attacks demonstrate which biometric security systems are truly effective and which are outdated, if Experian’s prediction is proven right.”

Experian’s sixth annual Data Breach Industry Forecast finds biometrics in the crosshairs.

Assessing the five major security threats expected for 2019, the report predicts that hackers will “expose vulnerabilities in touch ID sensors, facial recognition and passcodes,” according to a summary. Experian added that while biometrics are generally considered to offer “the most secure method of authentication,” they “can be stolen or altered, and sensors can be manipulated and spoofed or deteriorate with too much use.”

It’s a timely warning in the wake of recent academic research suggesting that a number of fingerprint authentication systems could effectively be spoofed by AI-generated fingerprints that emulate highly common fingerprint features. Even highly sophisticated biometric authentication systems such as Apple’s 3D facial recognition system have been proven vulnerable to more elaborate hacking efforts. But effective countermeasures are always emerging, with sophisticated liveness detection systems helping to thwart presentation attacks.

That having been said, 2019 could be a year in which major hack attacks demonstrate which biometric security systems are truly effective and which are outdated, if Experian’s prediction is proven right.

Other threats outlined in Experian’s latest Data Breach Industry Forecast large-scale skimming systems within banking networks, breaches of wireless carriers and cloud vendors, and increasing attacks against the online gaming community.