New fingerprint hack

[jayducharme]

In order to unlock a dead man's iPhone, a Michigan State University professor helped police by 3D-printing a new finger, supposedly with embedded metal chips to allow for conductivity:

https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/21/police-get-dead-man-s-finger-3d-printed-to-unlock-his-phone/

 

[Armen]

In order to unlock a dead man's iPhone, a Michigan State University professor helped police by 3D-printing a new finger, supposedly with embedded metal chips to allow for conductivity:

https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/21/police-get-dead-man-s-finger-3d-printed-to-unlock-his-phone/

that's so much work it's not even worth pursuing.

 

[I7guy]

that's so much work it's not even worth pursuing.

And if the phone was off?

 

[Armen]

And if the phone was off?

big ol "whoopsy!"

 

[Cergman]

In the article, they mentioned having 'a few weeks to refine the finished design.' Doesn't TouchID require a passcode after 48 hours?

 

[jayducharme]

In the article, they mentioned having 'a few weeks to refine the finished design.' Doesn't TouchID require a passcode after 48 hours?

I thought that's how it worked by default; maybe an older iOS version was different? Maybe the police don't realize this? And you can't change the TouchID preferences unless you first enter the actual passcode. If the police knew the passcode, they wouldn't need the TouchID. But at this point, TouchID should be disabled unless you have the passcode. Either some details have been left out of the story or the professor's invention is rather pointless.

 

[kdarling]

In order to unlock a dead man's iPhone, a Michigan State University professor helped police by 3D-printing a new finger, supposedly with embedded metal chips to allow for conductivity:

Licking such a false finger also works, but is unsanitary in comparison

The idea that they have weeks available, though, makes no sense.

that's so much work it's not even worth pursuing.

It is very worthwhile. Consider: once the basic setup has been designed, then in the future they could just give the professor a print, and shortly afterwards have a finger ready to use.

It's actually surprising that such a setup hasn't already been made publicly available. (Spy groups and crime lords probably had something like this created long ago.)