Even identical twin cannot fool Windows Hello
24 Aug 2015
Windows Hello, the feature in Windows 10 that allows users to use their face as their login password, might seem a mere novelty initially, and something that could potentially be readily fooled.
But journalist Chris Griffin from The Australian wanted to test it out at first hand, so he had six pairs identical twins put it to test.
In each of the six cases, Windows Hello kept the identical other from logging in.
To run the test, Griffin used a webcam-equipped with Lenovo ThinkPad notebook, and had one twin from each pair set up a login account and configure Windows Hello to recognise their face.
He would then ask the other twin to try to log into the first twin's account.
Windows Hello successfully kept the imposter twin out in each case, even when the second twins wore their hair like the first or removed their glasses.
However, Windows Hello did not come without problems in the experiment, failing to recognise faces right away at times, and in one case, it wouldn't work at all.
There can be no denying though, that Windows Hello was able to keep impostors out, even if, at times, it failed to pick up faces.
While the test was evidently limited, given the small sample of people, and the Lenovo Yoga 3-14 that was used had a sophisticated depth-sensing camera, the possibility it could be exploited on other host PCs that do not have high-end cameras, cannot be discounted.
It did, however suggest that it would not be easy for a lookalike twin or imposter - to break into users' laptop when they were not around.
Since its launch on 30 July, Windows 10, the new OS version from Microsoft, has received massive a thumbs up from critics. (See: Windows 10 gets positive reviews from critics)
