Iphone 5S biometric fingerprint scanner has been hacked!

TORONTO – Two days after the iPhone 5S hit the shelves, German hacking group Chaos Computer Club hacked the TouchID fingerprint scan.

How did they do it? According to the CCC website:

fingerprint of the user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution
image is cleaned up, inverted and laser-printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting
pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet
after it cures, 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

Iphone 5S biometric fingerprint scanner has been hacked!

Looks to me like this was bound to happen eventually. Happened much quicker than most people thought though!

I have always thought biometric id was a stupid idea considering you leave fingerprints everywhere you go throughout the day! Imagine having confidential information on your phone, all it would take is to be followed by someone with the skills needed to do this and then steal your phone! Try doing that with a password that only you know.

reply to post by Tylerknight


PANIC!!!!!! Seriously, it's not like that is a simple process by any stretch of the imagination. I doubt anyone is going to go through all that to get to my Instagram photos and twitter posts. If you do have something that important on your phone, use the fingerprint and pin code together. Or better yet, don't store nuclear secets on your phone. Just sayin.

reply to post by jtrenthacker


I wasn't writing this as a PANIC!!! Post.

I was just relaying information of how this is being pushed as the future ways to lock information.

This isn't "breaking news", and it was posted yesterday:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Search = friendly.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


Crap! haha every time I try and post something I search and it doesn't show up! Oh well. THanks for letting me know.

Mods please close this thread!

reply to post by Tylerknight


Haha, it's cool. That sarcasm wasn't exactly directed at you, but all the tech news outlets have been headlining this the last couple days as if your iPhone is now useless and all of your data will be ready for the taking. I think it's just a reason to jump on the bashing Apple train. Sorry if I came across as an a-hole.

reply to post by jtrenthacker



He, he, the job of the hackers is to make the lives of the developers a challenge, perhaps this will open the door for DNA to be used next. For some reason I find this hilarious.

reply to post by marg6043


When the challenge went out to hack this I was like really? Its already been done. Mythbusters did it ages ago. Just because you put the same tech into a different device doesn't change anything. I also completely disagree with CNN on this one. It doesn't take an expert to do it. Anyone who wants to do a little reading can figure it out and do it too.