Researchers claim to have faked fingerprints with finger photos

Researchers claim to have forged a fingerprint of a German minister based on photos. They also say, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that they can get through an iris scanner because they have copied the iris from a photo.

Researchers Jan Krissler and Tobias Fiebig of the University of Berlin say they were able to put together a fingerprint using photos taken from various angles of the German defense minister’s finger, writes the German newspaper Zeit. Krissler and Fiebig would have used the software VeriFinger for this and they will present their findings during the CCC congress in Hamburg, Germany.

The photos to simulate the fingerprint were taken during a press conference with a standard 200mm lens from a press photographer. However, copying the fingerprint did not turn out to be an entirely automated process: manual work was also involved. This makes this technology unsuitable for large-scale deployment for the time being. In addition, sharp pictures of the fingers in high resolution are needed.

It is not the first time that the German researchers have focused on fingerprints. They’ve been doing that for years. Previously, they already misled the fingerprint scanner of the iPhone 5s. The fingerprint is present in passports, for example, as identification, but many people also protect their smartphone with a fingerprint and Apple’s payment system Apple Pay also identifies users with the imprint of their finger.