Passport RFIDs cloned wholesale by $250 eBay auction spree

Passport RFIDs cloned wholesale by $250 eBay auction spree

www.theregister.co.uk

Using inexpensive off-the-shelf components, an information security expert has built a mobile platform that can clone large numbers of the unique electronic identifiers used in US passport cards and next generation drivers licenses.

The $250 proof-of-concept device - which researcher Chris Paget built in his spare time - operates out of his vehicle and contains everything needed to sniff and then clone RFID, or radio frequency identification, tags. During a recent 20-minute drive in downtown San Francisco, it successfully copied the RFID tags of two passport cards without the knowledge of their owners.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Use of the cards is expected to rise as US officials continue to encourage their adoption. Civil liberties groups have criticized the cards and a travel industry association has called on the federal government to suspend their use until the risks can be better understood.

Future identity theft I suppose?
Maybe the government will be more careful with tracking devices?

They should just scrap the whole RFID idea =p.

www.theregister.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hmmm. In the underground for about $2k you can get a license and the new e-passport. I wonder how many people are acutally floating around with these in their pockets?

[edit on 2-2-2009 by jhill76]

This idiot shouldnt be advertising his hacking ability to people's ID cards, its a sure fire way to get tagged and tracked and sniffed out himself, and end up in a federal pen for a very, very long time.

Hacking people's ID cards is ID theft, and is a federal offense.

Dumb..just plain dumb. There was a time when crooks didnt advertise their activity to the entire world, and were able to remain ahead of the law.

These days it seems crooks are not so smart no matter what they build. They advertise themselves and their deeds on video sites and make themselves open for arrest. This numbnut should just put a big neon sign on his car with a huge arrow pointing down at him with letters saying "Im a hacker, Im an ID thief, and right now I am stealing your personal information from your ID card".

What a dumbarse.




Cheers!!!!

[edit on 2-2-2009 by RFBurns]

Originally posted by RFBurns
This idiot shouldnt be advertising his hacking ability to people's ID cards, its a sure fire way to get tagged and tracked and sniffed out himself, and end up in a federal pen for a very, very long time.

True, he's sticking his neck out a bit.

But I'm glad he did. I didn't realise how easy it was to do.

reply to post by NuclearPaul


Anything that transmits a signal over an RF carrier is vulnerable...anything. All that is needed is a proper receiver, decoder to demodulate the signal and information on that signal, and a recorder to store that informaiton.


I tried to tell people months ago about this fact. Most just ignored me. Well now perhaps some will take note that I do know what I am talking about.


The safest form of ID is just your plain old printed, laminated card.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by RFBurns
reply to post by NuclearPaul

 

Anything that transmits a signal over an RF carrier is vulnerable...anything. All that is needed is a proper receiver, decoder to demodulate the signal and information on that signal, and a recorder to store that informaiton.


I tried to tell people months ago about this fact. Most just ignored me. Well now perhaps some will take note that I do know what I am talking about.


The safest form of ID is just your plain old printed, laminated card.



Cheers!!!!

=p.


Any "waves" can be detected with the correct equipment. It's all there, you just have get get the right hardware and software.

But yeh...

I don't think this guy is necessarily stealing (At least not in the video), he showed a vulnerable aspect of a controversial future technology.

would fabricating a 'faraday wallet liner' out of fine wire mesh to carry the cards in everyday use make the RFID chips safe from this kind of drive-by interrogation?

I've said it before and I'll say it again...RFID is Cheezy!

I'm glad that it is becoming more and more mainstream for people to show the ease of defeating this technology. Not good for people or materials as a stand alone measure. It's only safe use is in conjunction with other steps.

I work with with this technology everyday as part of my job, and it really makes you understand the limitations and irresponsibility present that can be exploited easily.

I am sure that over time the RFID technology will be refined to a point where it is almost perfect. Events like this only opens up the competitive drive to build a better system. However, even with the best system somebody will always find a way to hack into it.

reply to post by citizen smith


There are products like this already out there. My buddy is big into this, and has a protected wallet.

Camain