A member of Europe's oldest hacker collective, the Chaos Computer Club has claimed to have developed a method to copy fingerprints using a common digital camera.
According to CNET, Jan Krissler's demonstration included creating a digital copy of a fingerprint of Germany's federal minister of defense, Ursula von der Leyen, using commercially available software called VeriFinger.
However, Von der Leyen's office refused to comment on the issue and one representative said that she was unaware of any such demonstration.
Krissler's presentation questions the efficacy of scanners used for fingerprints as a security measure.