News Doing the peace sign in photos could put your fingerprint at risk, researchers find Doing the peace sign in photos could put your fingerprint at risk, researchers find
By Michelle Fitzsimmons
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Is the peace sign one of your preferred picture poses? Then you might want to keep reading.
Doing the innocent-enough peace sign may actually put perhaps your most sensitive bit of biometric information out there for hackers to exploit, researchers at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan have discovered.
The NII team found that, if the lighting and clarity of the picture are high enough, a person's fingerprint can be recreated from a photograph taken up to three meters (about 10 feet) away.
Biometric data has successfully been recreated and used before, as The Telegraph notes, but this is yet another reminder that as technology gets better at capturing minute details, it can also put us at greater security risk.
That said, actually making a physical fingerprint from a photo is an entirely different matter, and probably too complicated for most nefarious types to even consider trying.
And while nearly every flagship phone has a fingerprint scanner these days asd well as some laptops, like the newApple MacBook Pro, our prints aren't widely used enough as a form of security clearance for us to lose too much sleep over the NII finding.
For those still concerned their print could end up in the wrong hands, the NII researchers are tinkering with a transparent film that disrupts any dactylogram duplicating attempts. The titanium oxide film won't be ready for two years, however, and even then likely won't be available to the average peace-sign throwing person.
Via Engadget
Read next: How to disable your webcam for extra security ABOUT THE AUTHORMichelle Fitzsimmons
Michelle is TechRadar's Senior News Editor and is based in the Bay Area. Covering all things tech, Michelle is obsessed with good handsets, smart machines and self-driving cars. With an eye on every corner of the industry, Michelle aims to bring you the most useful and entertaining bits about the tech you love. Got a tip? Drop her a line! Related news
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