Researchers Believe They Can Now Track ‘Untraceable’ 3D-Printed Guns

After 3D-printed gun designs made their way online and raised huge concerns to law enforcement organisations everywhere, many were mostly concerned about two things, the weapons ease of access, and its intractability. Well, luckily it looks like the latter may not be a worry for much longer as a team of researchers said they had discovered a way to trace 3D-printed objects back to the 3D printers that made them.

Specifically, Wenyao Xu, a computer science professor at the University at Buffalo, New York, led a team that eventually went on to produce a new identification system titled “PrinTracker” which uses patterns that are etched onto the surface of a 3D-printed object to identify the original and unique printer that made it. More precisely, the tech uses the hardware variations in each printer to identify them as they create unique patterns, even if they are different units of the same make and model of printer.

Wenyao Xu stated: “Two human beings can write the same thing, but they’ll have different handwriting,” Wenyao Xu, a computer science professor at the University at Buffalo, New York, and the lead author of the paper, said during a phone interview. “It’s the same concept for [tracking] 3D printers.” The academic then added the importance of making a breakthrough, expressing: “I think [the] 3D printer is a revolutionary invention, so security and forensics will be very important.”