A good photograph has the power to stop us in our tracks, take our breath away, inspire us, make us wish we were there, standing inside of it. It’s true, the power of photography is magnificent. Unfortunately, it’s magical powers are sometimes used in ways that are not quite so inspirational. Like last year, when a 31-year old hacker who works under the name”Starbug”, claimed he could recreate a person’s fingerprints using just a few images from a “standard photo camera”, which proved by duplicating the fingerprints of German defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen.

In the same presentation, Starbug demonstrated how embarrassingly easy it is to trick facial recognition software using printed out photographs. Strabug’s work prompted an international conversation on security and how rapidly evolving camera tech is causing new concerns about the way criminals can use photography to commit crimes.[Read More…]