At the upcoming RSA Security conference in San Francisco, one group of researchers will discuss flaws in the Samsung Galaxy S5 that could allow unauthorized parties to gain access to the device.

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Security firm FireEye has discovered a way to grab biometric data, which includes fingerprints, from certain Android devices before it reaches a separate, secure zone where it's encrypted.Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang from FireEye told Forbes that before the information reaches that protected area, it's possible to collect it and create copies of the information."If the attacker can break the kernel," at the core of the Android OS, "he can directly read the fingerprint sensor at any time," Zhang told Forbes. Fingerprint data in the trusted zone is inaccessible, but "every time you touch the fingerprint sensor, the attacker can steal your fingerprint."Any attacker who can gain user access to a phone could then run a program as a root-level user to collect the information, but on the S5 any such malicious software would only require system-level access.All hope is not lost, however. The simplest way to fix this vulnerability is through a software update. FireEye researchers said the flaw is not present in Android Lollipop 5.0 or above.

Seth Macy is a freelance writer who just wants to be your friend. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy , and MyIGN at sethgmacy , or check out Seth Macy's YouTube channel.