Microsoft Breaks Windows Hello: Darkness Is Now Its Enemy

[AleksandarK]

Microsoft has updated Windows Hello facial recognition to require a compatible color camera, in addition to infrared sensors, for user sign-in. Although this change was announced in April's Patch Tuesday release (KB5055523), many users only noticed the impact when their devices stopped authenticating in dark environments. Previously, Hello relied solely on IR sensors to capture a three-dimensional facial scan, enabling secure logins even in minimal lighting conditions. Microsoft says the new requirement addresses a spoofing vulnerability discovered earlier this year by ensuring that a visible image from the color camera accompanies the IR scan. Early reports have been mixed: some outlets confirm Hello no longer works in darkness, while others find that the glow of a laptop screen can suffice to illuminate the user's face.

A practical workaround involves disabling the color webcam in Device Manager, which forces Hello to revert to IR‑only authentication and restores dark‑room functionality. Disabling the webcam for video calls is not practical for everyone, particularly for those who need to attend mandatory daily meetings, especially in corporate settings. Fortunately, Windows Hello provides alternative sign-in options. Users can choose to sign in with a PIN, password, or fingerprint, all of which allow for quick and secure access without depending on facial recognition in low-light conditions.



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[Chaitanya]

Hate Hello it has caused a lot of system crashes for me.

 

[Vayra86]

Hello & Bye, Windows!

 

[Hyderz]

Microsoft breaks Windows : nothing new to see guys

 

[Shihab]

Staying true to their Kinect roots, I see.

For those not old enough (or too old) to remember, Kinect had a problem with detecting faces in dimly lit scenes... "Dark skinned" (to placate the PC crowd) faces to be exact. Would not be surprised if this is still the case here (considering the PCWorld guy is, obviously, not of the afore mentioned category).

To be clear: I am not saying that this is MS's fault. It's a natural and very understandable limitations (in both Kinect's case and this one), criticisms about the QA sampling in Kinect's case notwithstanding. To their credit, they did mention the limitation in the KB.

Although I think it's odd they opt to gimp the performance by adding a secondary measure instead of improving the detection/classification algorithm itself. But I'm too lazy to research it further.

 

[Bloste]

nothing new to see guys

Just what the camera is saying...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I don’t know why you say goodbye, Windows Hello. To the Beetles tune.

 

[Baba]

I never had a windows password. I removed the sign-in screen from my MacBook also. That was before everything had a 2FA. I'm so tired of being forced to type in two passwords now on two different devices to get into my accounts.

 

[Leiesoldat]

This feature has been broken longer than this announcement. This has been broken on my machine for at least 6 months. Doesn't matter whether you're in a full sunny room or if it's pitch black, the Windows Hello setup camera uses the grainiest and most blurred setting on the camera and doesn't recognize any facial features.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Does anyone actually use "Hello"? It's one of the first things I uninstall...

 

[NoneRain]

Does anyone actually use "Hello"? It one of the first things I uninstall...

It's neat as much as facial recognition in smartphones if you use a Laptop, or if your work computer needs 2FA, since you can avoid the passwords and confirmations just looking at the camera.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Does anyone actually use "Hello"? It one of the first things I uninstall...

I'm with you on this one.

I remove that, the voice recognition, and the use of any biometrics to log in. If somebody has already got access to your PC then the only thing biometrics are going to do is to prevent you from getting access when any of those metrics is out of whack. Give me a password please. Also, insert XKCD comic as required.

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[Darmok N Jalad]

I think Windows Hello and all those can be problematic in workplaces because it uses biometrics. My workplace disables that stuff, and I’m guessing that’s at least part of the reason why.

 

[Exilarch]

You can fix this problem by going to distrowatch.com and picking up one of the operating systems that matches your needs perfectly.

 

[lexluthermiester]

You can fix this problem by going to distrowatch.com and picking up one of the operating systems that matches your needs perfectly.

That's NOT a solution. It's alternative.

 

[Leiesoldat]

I like using the biometric so I don't have to remember the super long pin that I set on the Microsoft account. It's just for my home computer as I have a Yubikey for my work computer that requires a separate pin. Kind of sucks that I just put up the cash for a Dell Ultrasharp web camera to help with Windows Hello because I thought the Logitech Brio was the problem. Guess I'll be searching for a fingerprint reader now. I just tried setting up Hello again yesterday after my post above and the system won't even recognize the camera now.

 

[johngalt]

Odd. this KB is from back in April. I've since clean installed Win11 and I use a Logi Brio 4k and have had no issues with facial recognition to log in and authenticate with things like KeePassXC....

And I'm of Indian origin lol. I can test with darkening my room with my PC, but, frankly, I'm surprised this is just now making news.

 

[INSTG8R]

Does anyone actually use "Hello"? It's one of the first things I uninstall...

I mean I could probably dig out a 10 year old Logi webcam but reading this it probably wouldn't work. I personally use a PIN....