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RFID Passport Cloned (again)
By jonathan | March 7, 2007
This just in, hot off the press! Ok, so it’s at least 24 hours old, but I just saw it on Slashdot. An RFID passport was cloned in just 4 hours and done so without ever opening the mail package or alerting the intended receiver of the cloning. Actually, this was just an experiment and it was a pre-arranged re-routing of the passport package, but demonstrates a great vulnerability of this new technology. I should tell you this article and proof-of-concept is based in Britain, however, their passports are exactly like our new ones here in the US that use RFID technology.
The scariest part of this entire experiment is this quote from another news story covering the article above:
The Mail notes that no proof of identity was required when the passport was delivered, but the vulnerabilities exposed mean that the problem goes far beyond the occasional passport being cloned after its delivery has been intercepted. Because it’s feasible to steal the data without detection, it’s perfectly possible that insiders could intercept large numbers of the millions of new passports delivered every year.
Also, this quote should be a real wake-up call for anyone still supporting biometric/RFID passports:
By the end of the afternoon, we had stolen enough information from the passport’s electronic chip - including the woman’s photograph - to be able to clone an identical document if we had wished.
More significantly, we had the details which would allow a fraudster, people trafficker or illegal immigrant to set up a new life in Britain.
So again, the government, and in this case that’s Britain AND the United States, have done a terrific job at making things harder for normal, honest citizens, and easier for the malicious and ill willed slime to continue in their fraudulent ways. It has been reported that in Britain thousands of passports have already gone missing.
Are people seriously not ever going to wake up and realize this is not doing ANYTHING for reduction in terrorism and crime, which has been the main argument of this bipartisan agenda? I encourage everyone who has taken the time to read this entire post to read each of the article’s I have referenced. Also, please continue to stay involved and aware of current legislation in your area and of course, keep checking theprivacyguy.com for other privacy news updates and commentary.
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Topics: Government, RFID |