Hacking Fingerprint Readers with Master Prints
There’s interesting research on using a set of “master” digital fingerprints to fool biometric readers. The work is theoretical at the moment, but they might be able to open about two-thirds of iPhones...
View ArticleFacebook Fingerprinting Photos to Prevent Revenge Porn
This is a pilot project in Australia: Individuals who have shared intimate, nude or sexual images with partners and are worried that the partner (or ex-partner) might distribute them without their...
View ArticleHacking a Fingerprint Biometric
Embedded in this story about infidelity and a mid-flight altercation, there’s an interesting security tidbit: The woman had unlocked her husband’s phone using his thumb impression when he was sleeping…
View ArticleFingerprinting Digital Documents
In this era of electronic leakers, remember that zero-width spaces and homoglyph substitution can fingerprint individual instances of files.
View ArticleUnlocking iPhones with Dead People's Fingerprints
It’s routine for US police to unlock iPhones with the fingerprints of dead people. It seems only to work with recently dead people.
View ArticleLifting a Fingerprint from a Photo
Police in the UK were able to read a fingerprint from a photo of a hand: Staff from the unit’s specialist imaging team were able to enhance a picture of a hand holding a number of tablets, which was...
View ArticleHiding Secret Messages in Fingerprints
This is a fun steganographic application: hiding a message in a fingerprint image. Can’t see any real use for it, but that’s okay.
View ArticleUsing Machine Learning to Create Fake Fingerprints
Researchers are able to create fake fingerprints that result in a 20% false-positive rate. The problem is that these sensors obtain only partial images of users’ fingerprints—at the points where they...
View ArticleBrute-Forcing a Fingerprint Reader
It’s neither hard nor expensive: Unlike password authentication, which requires a direct match between what is inputted and what’s stored in a database, fingerprint authentication determines a match...
View ArticleBreaking Laptop Fingerprint Sensors
They’re not that good: Security researchers Jesse D’Aguanno and Timo Teräs write that, with varying degrees of reverse-engineering and using some external hardware, they were able to fool the Goodix...
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