Hackers claim iPhone fingerprint scanner cracked

A group of German hackers claimed to have cracked the iPhone fingerprint scanner, just days after Apple launched the technology that it promises will better protect devices from criminals and snoopers seeking access.

If the claim is verified, it will be embarrassing for Apple which is betting on the scanner to set its smartphone apart from new models of Samsung and others running the Android operating system of Google.

Two prominent iPhone security experts said they believed the German group, known as the Chaos Computing Club, or CCC, had succeeded in defeating Apple’s Touch ID, though they had not personally replicated the work.