iPhone 5S Features Rumors: Fingerprint Security Enhancements Against Hackers Likely on Next Apple Smartphone

The next Apple smartphone might pave the way for stronger mobile security, says a PayPal executive.

According to MacWorld, PayPal Chief Information Security Officer Michael Barrett believes the end of passwords is imminent.

"Passwords, when used ubiquitously everywhere at Internet scale are starting to fail us," he said during a keynote speech at Interop.

Barret noted that the next Apple smartphone, whether it is the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, will provide better security.

"It's widely rumored that a large technology provider in Cupertino, [California] will come out with a phone later this year that has a fingerprint reader on it," he said. "There is going to be a fingerprint enabled phone on the market later this year. Not just one, multiple."

Will the alleged fingerprint system mark the end of the password?

Not really, according to the PayPal chief information security officer.

Barrett stated the trend to use a fingerprint system might take a while but as the world continues to change, it may take several years before seeing a "real, mass turning of the ship. But the ship is turning."

Barrett's statement about Apple working on a fingerprint system is not new, as Latinos Post has been following, a report by China Times in March stated a Taiwanese chip firm's claim that Apple is working on a fingerprint sensor. The new component would assist another new feature - NFC. The purpose of the fingerprint sensor would provide better security when making transactions.

NFC was thought to help assist the iOS 6's Passbook, which is Apple's own quasi-version of the Google Wallet where transactions occur. NFC has been credited to helping secure those transactions as it has with Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Nexus.

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