dcstone writes “Potential security hacks for RFID are cropping up.
From a Washington Post summary of events at the recent DefCon/Black Hat conventions held in Las Vegas:
“DefCon 13 also was notable for being the location where two new world records were set — both involved shooting certain electronic signals unprecedented distances. Los Angeles-based Flexilis set the world record for transmitting data to and from a “passive” radio frequency identification (RFID) card — covering a distance of more than 69 feet. (Active RFID — the kind being integrated into foreign passports, for example — differs from passive RFID in that it emits its own magnetic signal and can only be detected from a much shorter distance.)
The company’s feat is also a reminder of the security and privacy issues presented by RFID technology, which is increasingly being used by companies like Wal-Mart to store information about their products. Using a device like the one Flexilis built, someone could conceivably sit out in the parking lot and peer inside the shopping bag of a customer leaving a store, or use the RFID tags to keep tabs on that person’s movements. Using slightly different methods, attackers could send signals that effectively jam or manipulate a store’s RFID readers, tricking the devices into reading a $99 item as a 99-cent item, for example.”
From the SecurityFix Blog in The Washington Post “
Recent Comments