Can iPhone5S fingerprint sensor be hacked? I Sci Guide with Mark Champkins I Head Squeeze
840The new iPhone 5s went on sale in the United States last week and featured a new fingerprint sensor built into the home button to unlock the phone. But, within a day of its launch an organisation called the Computer Chaos Club based in Germany claimed to have hacked Apple's Touch ID system.
So, how hard is this to do, and how exactly did they do it?
Fingerprinting or Dactyloscopy is a really great way of identifying someone, better even than DNA, which of course is shared by identical twins. No two people have been found to have the same fingerprint, and it's estimated that there is a 1 in 64 billion chance of that happening.
Most of your body is covered in smooth skin, but the skin on our hands and feet are covered in small ridges which are thought to amplify our sense of touch, and helps us to grip. The pattern of these ridges are formed in the womb, and are then set for life.
If you look at your own fingertips you are likely to see one of three patterns an ""arch"", a ""loop"" (either sloping towards the little finger or the thumb) and a whorl (or spiral) So if fingerprints are so complex, how do you hack into a phone with Fingerprint ID?
Well, the simple answer is you have to steal someone's fingerprint.
This is the way the Computer Chaos Club claim you can do it:- http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/22/apple-iphone-fingerprint-scanner-hacked
The First and most tricky part is to take a picture of an enrolled users fingerprint at a resolution of 2400dpi. The resulting image then needs to be cleaned up, inverted and laser printed at 1200 dpi on to transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. This provides an undulating relief of the fingerprint.
Next a latex milk or white PVA wood glue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner on the transparent sheet.
Finally, After it cures, the thin rubbery sheet is lifted from the transparency, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone.
This has been demonstrated to work on a whole bunch of YouTube clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8b8d8kSNQ
No doubt apple will already be thinking of a solution to this hack, and here at Head Squeeze we'll be keeping our fingers on the pulse.
What do you think of the iPhone5S? Is it really worth the hype? Let us know what you think in the comments below. And don't forget to share with your friends or subscribe if you haven't subscribed already!
Thinking about technology of the future? Check out Mark Champkins video on 3D printing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvPDRp3x620&list=PLMrtJn-MOYme6klSjJXoZfWmNZ6ZthOSA&index=26
Surfing the net on your iPhone? Have you ever wondered how the internet works? James May knows all about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3sr7_0FyPA&list=PLMrtJn-MOYmfqNgyPxx6NYMZnd25y4shc&index=41
Sci Guide: Taking a twist on the latest science and tech news, our experts unravel some bizarre sideways tangents and discuss the latest gadgets like Google Glass, how ears might give us power in the future, and reveal the latest debates on the Big Bang Theory.
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