Facial Recognition Tricked by 3D Facebook Model

When it comes to security, we are constantly reminded that passwords are weak in terms of their strength to protect your private and confidential accounts and details. What do we use instead then? Some people use USB keys, others decide to use their fingerprints or voice patterns. For those who have decided that facial recognition systems would be best suited to protect their accounts, you may want to reconsider as a simple 3D model made from your Facebook account could leave your account open for anyone.

The University of North Carolina has shown that using technology not that different to the VR craze that is currently swarming the technology industry, a computer-rendered face could be manipulated to act like a real face.

The team behind the realisation used photos collected from 20 volunteers online accounts. Using the pictures they were able to generate a 3D model. While on the computer they were able to animate facial movements and even make eye contact with the camera. The most impressive part of this realisation? A few of the volunteers were security researchers and only had two or three low-quality photos available online, and their accounts could still be easily accessed through this technique.

How many photos do you have of yourself online? How many have your friends uploaded? Do you trust any type of account access or is the password still your favourite?