RFID Will Make Us LESS Safe
RFID is all the rage these days - with inventory tracking systems, building entry systems, encoded car keys, and now the US passport. US passports will now contain RFID chips which is supposed to make them forgery-proof. Will they?
The encryption on the RFID tags on British passports was broken in less than 48 hours. Anyone who could read an RFID tag off a British passport could forge it - convincingly.
New advances in antenna technology make it possible to read passive RFID tags from as far away as 600 feet. Imagine walking into the international terminal of an airport with such a receiver. You could collect thousands of IDs, store them, and then work on breaking their encryption by brute-force in your spare time.
Of course, simply copying RFIDs is child’s play.
The real problem will come from customs officials who may be tempted to scrutinize a passport less closely because it has a valid RFID chip. People like to rely on safety mechanisms that they’d like to believe will keep them safe.
I don’t believe that RFID chips embedded in passports are anything more than a temporary stopping mechanism that, once overcome will make the US passport less secure.
