For more than a century, it's been possible to lift fingerprints from a physical surface, like a drinking glass. Now a group of hackers is saying they can copy fingerprints from photographs.
According to the Chaos Computer Club -- the same Berlin-based group that claimed it cracked Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor last year -- it's possible to replicate a thumbprint using only photos and commercially available software. Theoretically, identity thieves could break into iPhones or other biometrically protected technology using the method.
All that's needed is a "standard photo camera" to take some photos, which are then run through software called VeriFinger to create the fingerprint clone, the group claimed at a demonstration during its annual convention in Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday.
The hackers said they were able to recreate German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen's fingerprint by using a picture of her thumb from an October press conference, as well as a series of different photographs taken from other angles.
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/picture-thumb-640x351.jpg" caption="The photo of German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen's thumb used to "clone" her fingerprint, according to Computer Chaos Club." credit="Screenshot" alt="picture-thumb"]
"After this talk, politicians will presumably wear gloves when talking in public," said CCC's Jan Krissler, also known as "Starbug," in a news release.
Perhaps this would be a problem for a high-profile person like von der Leyen or, say, President Barack Obama -- if hackers could also get their hands on a device that required those fingerprints. But it's even harder to imagine how much a regular person would be affected by fingerprint cloning.
Experts have said it's a time-consuming and difficult process to replicate a fingerprint. Furthermore, getting numerous close-up photos of someone's thumb could be difficult. Of course, no security method is perfect, but Apple Pay, for example, has been praised for using fingerprint authentication for amped-up security.