Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Electronic identification sparks privacy debate

Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he'd bought on eBay for $190, Chris Paget cruised the streets of San Francisco with one objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car.

It took him 20 minutes to strike hacker's gold.

Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner detected, then downloaded to his laptop, the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags.

Within an hour, he'd “skimmed” the identifiers of four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet. (Click here for the rest of the article)


We say: Our FIPS-201 approved SkimSafe badge holders prevent unauthorized badge reading, or skimming. It's not hype. Who has your smart card been talking to?

No comments:

Card File