fingerprint (Photo : BrightHub)
Fingerprints of any person can be hacked by digital photos. Recently hackers have showcased to the public that fingerprints can be lifted from high-resolution photos that contain a clear view of the finger.
The shocking revelation was made at the 31st annual Chaos Computer Club conference in Hamburg, Germany and it has shaken the world. Jan Krissler explained the process of replication of duplicating or copying the thumbprint via a digital photo. The most surprising fact is that in the demonstration, he showed how he lifted the thumbprint of German Defense Minister Ursula Von Der Leyen.
The fingerprint copying process doesn't need a complex setup. Krissler managed to implement the whole setup by the help of a few high-resolution pictures from different angles of the thumb. Pads were used to create a special 3D view of the finger to establish a complete print. The process is hugely dependent on the quality of the photo as mentioned by Krissler.
Regarding the fact Krissler stated that the day is not far away when politicians might have to wear gloves in public due to security concerns. The technological advancement illustrates innovations for security concerns and hackers are mostly concerned to foil them. The battle will move on as TouchID feature is still out of this threat. The Apple Pay can't be hacked, as it requires specific and targeted effort around the thumbs/finger print.
For the rest of us, there's no reason to worry about using TouchID-enabled Apple Pay, not for the time being. As this kind of hacking needs specific targets and subjects. However with the advancements in technology there is no predicting what might be ahead.
