Here's how easy it is to get past an iPhone's fingerprint sensor

An experiment with fingerprint sensor company Vkansee demonstrated how Play-Doh can be used to unlock the iPhone

The iPhone fingerprint sensor may seem secure, but it's actually pretty easy to get past (Getty)

The fingerprint sensor in your iPhone may seem like a secure way to keep your files safe, but it's actually pretty easy to get past it.

Business Insider met with fingerprint sensor company Vkansee at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to find out how to get past an iPhone's fingerprint sensor.

Vkansee produces tiny optical fingerprint sensors that it says capture more detail than the sensors in an iPhone.

To prove how different a Vkansee sensor is to an iPhone one, we tried an experiment to see whether Play-Doh could unlock my iPhone.

Here's what happened:

You start things off by squeezing the dental mould out of a tube. It comes out like putty.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

I rested my finger on the dental mould for just over five minutes.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

And then I slowly lifted it off. I couldn't just pull it straight up otherwise it could have ripped the putty.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

Sure enough, my fingerprint was left on the dental mould. We left it to dry for a few minutes under a fan.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

The next stage of the hack was sticking some Play-Doh onto the mould. A few minutes later it was all done — and it unlocked my phone!

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

Here are two of Vkansee's fingerprint sensors which they say capture more detail than the ones in your phone.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

Here's what the kind of fingerprint sensor inside your phone looks like.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

Here's a normal optical fingerprint sensor — it's pretty big. Vkansee says its sensors are smaller because of pinhole photography.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

Here's my fingerprint as a computer sees it.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

And here's what the Play-Doh version looks like. This was enough to fool the sensor in my iPhone.

Business Insider/James Cook (Business Insider/James Cook)

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