1.1 Threats in Real World
Security aspects of RFIDs that work at different layer (Physical Layer[4],
Communication Layer[5], or Application Layer [6, 7, 8]), have been proposed.
We are presenting some applications for RFID tags and highlight their security
concerns.
- Among all application, the most well known is Supply Chain
Management, which manufacturers, retailers, and logistics providers
make unprecedented use of RFID technology to track, secure and
manage items from the time they were raw materials through the entire
cycle of the product. For instance, pharmaceutical industry in United
States are making $32 billion dollars, which represents 10 percents
of global market. The recent increase of counterfeit or diluted drugs
has caught the attention of Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
and considered as a threat to public health.[9] The RFID technology
could immediately impact pharmaceutical supply chain safely through
real-time, off line, and item-level authentication, from initially at the
point of manufacturing to the stage of dispensing pharmacies.
- RFID tags also have the potential on the individual level to store
personal information that can be used for security check-in. For
example, an employee carries an ID card, embedded with RFID
chips, could be used to authenticate at the security entry in a
high security facility. Another real-life example is the US passport.
The US government issued the first passports containing RFID
chips in October 2006. The embedded chips in the new passports
stores the same personal information as those in the old printed
document, including the name, nationality, sex, date of birth, place
of birth, fingerprint, and a photo of the passport holder. According
to government officials, the use of the RFID chip allows passports to
be scanned and cross-referenced with security databases more easily.
Due to the nature of communication in RFID, identity theft can
be done wirelessly [10]. The personal information is just up there
available in the air for hackers, who would hack into the device, snap
personal information, and walk away. The consequence of unauthorized
duplication of your passport would affect millions of Americans.