The iPhone 5S’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor is one of the smartphone’s landmark features, touted as a mechanism that offers increased security for users’ data. But it didn’t take long for a group of hackers to circumvent the supposedly foolproof technique, according to a video that claims to “defeat” the sensor.
"In reality, Apple's sensor has just a higher resolution compared to the sensors so far," said a hacker belonging to the Chaos Computer Club, explaining how it was possible to dupe the sensor with a replicated fingerprint. "So we only needed to ramp up the resolution of our fake."
Here’s the group’s description of the process:
"First, the fingerprint of the enrolled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone."
[via The Verge]
