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Biometric identification and authentication is FUBAR
The top image was taken at the Bundespressekonferenz (Federal Press Conference) from about 3 meters distance with a 200mm lens and a Canon Camera by a professional photographer.
Jan Krissler (starbug) also demonstrated how easy it is to fool iris scanners with high resolution photos, i.e. election posters of politicians. After being asked by the audience, he even indicated that biometric characteristics of human beings (fingerprints, irises) may be extracted from 4K Ultra-HD videos. He couldn’t go into further detail on this, because it’s part of an ongoing scientific research he is currently conducting.
The higher the resolution and light sensitivity of modern cameras (not to mention light field cameras like Lytro with variable depth of field), there is no need to physically take fingerprints or take reference pictures of irises from a very short distance. Biometric security just doesn’t exist.
Recording of his lecture (german):
http://streaming.media.ccc.de/relive/6450/
