Can a 3D fingerprint unlock a smartphone? Computer science professor gives it a try
A computer science and engineering professor at Michigan State University is trying to help police unlock the cellphone of a murdered man in hopes it can provide clues about the perpetrator.
Police in Michigan are asking the professor, Anil Jain, to unlock the iPhone with a 3D replica of the victim’s fingerprints, report Fusion, the Guardian and the Chicago Tribune. Jain is using a scan of the fingerprints taken from a previous arrest.
Jain and his assistant, PhD student Sunpreet Arora, are still working on the replica, which coats the 3D fingers with metallic particles that can be read. Fusion warns, however, that the technology is still being refined. And some types of phones are easier to crack with 3D replicas than others, Jain tells the Guardian. Some manufacturers and models “have a stronger ability to detect spoofs,” he explains.
Jain says he developed the technology to calibrate fingerprint sensors, not for “nefariously unlocking someone’s phone without their knowledge,” he tells the Guardian.
