16 August 2006

RFID Regurgitated.

Sound inviting?

No?

Oh come on! give it a try :)
Welcome to the RFIDGuy's news blog. This site will be the site for catching up on news related to RFID technology.

RFID news items will be found from the usual RSS feeds and simplified and explained by an RFID professional with over 5 years of experience in LF, HF and UHF RFID.

08 August 2006

ePassport Security, managing the hysteria.

No doubt, the story about cloning ePassports is making the RFID headlines, in fact it will likely make it to mainstream news.

From RFIDUpdate:
Sound threatening? Well consider the following, which Wired responsibly points out: e-passport data can only be "unlocked" and accessed with a unique key code that is printed on the passport itself. A hacker would therefore need physical access to the passport before she could read its electronic contents, making it impossible for her to "skim" an e-passport chip from afar and use that data to manufacture a cloned version.

Should we ignore concerns about ePassports?

No.

We need to contain the FUD and be mindful that RFID is just one tool to help with processing of travelers and their passports. Security personnel can't become completely reliant on the RFID information but must continue to verify passport photos and to use other verification methods as before. From an official at the US State Department:
"It's [RFID] an additional means of verifying that the person who is carrying the passport is the person to whom that passport was issued by the relevant government."
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