Whole Network Most Recent TOP10 Interviews Point of view Products Technology

 

Cost-Performance trade off and the nightmare of RFID hackers

Filed in archive Technology by ehsan on March 21, 2006

supermarket-rfid.jpg
Most RFID chips remain easy to break by hackers specially in places like supermarkets. One reason: the cheapest and most popular RFID chips don't have a battery; instead, they're powered by the reader when scanned. That limits the amount of encryption that can be placed on a chip.

Here is a nightmare described by a Business Week author:

A hacker goes into a store, buys a can of soup with an electronic tracking tag glued to the side, and takes it home. There, he attaches a different tag, this one with malicious code. He goes back to the store and lets the item get scanned anew at the cash register. This time, the code jumps from the tag onto the store's computer system, changes product prices and skews sales data, and creates an entrée for an outsider to gain access to the store's internal databases.

So what to do?

To be sure, new chips used for potentially high-value financial transactions have more safeguards. They can be adjusted so that they can be read only from a very short distance of a few inches, for example. That would prevent hackers from reading cards as shoppers pass through a nearby checkout line. They also contain more encryption. (They're also more expensive, at $4 or more per tag, compared with about 20 cents for your average RFID tag.)

So the question still remains: what to do? There is no way to spend 4$ per tag for companies like Wal Mart. One possible answer is to categorize tag applications throughout the company and use high performance tags for the most risky areas. This solution is a bit more economical, at least.


Advertisement


Permalink: Cost-Performance trade off and the nightmare of RFID hackers
Tags: rfid  vulnerability 

Trackback: http://www.creative-weblogging.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.pl/18575



Advertisement


Advertisement


CW ToolbarInstall
RSSrss   | See all blog subscribe options
Googlegoogle   |   What is RSS?
Yahoo!yahoo
AddthisAddThis Feed Button
BloglinesBloglines
Newsletter

Use our search feature to look for other interesting posts

Just this blog Whole network
Advertisement -
Book yours here..


 
  • Would you like to see your text link here? Let us know!
Advertisement
Book yours here.



  • Testimonials

  • Frankly, the site is what TechPlanet Asia is collectively aspiring to. Ehsan covers indepth issues pertaining to the global transportation, logistics, supply chain and RFID industries, and also has an impressive blogroll. Highly recommended! ---- Raoul Le Blond of SCMTech Planet Asia

    I am a regular reader of your blog and it helps me learn & understand the domain of SCM and industry better ---- Rajiv Renganathan, Manhattan Associates
  • Other blogs in the same channel in the Creative Weblogging Network

Advertisement -
Book yours here..






Advertisement - Book yours here..
 
Tagcloud: Basics Best practice Book Review Education Employment General Green supply chain Green supply chains Guest Column Implementation Interviews Market Overview merger and acquisition News Partnerships Point of view Practical Tips Products Research Special Events Sponsored Post Supply chain video Sustainability and supply chain Technology