RFID technology is vulnerable

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam say there are serious dangers posed by the widespread use of radio frequency identification cards.

Despite their extremely small memory, the chips are able to store malicious programs that are transmitted to the receiving system each time they are read, thus infecting, for example, the access control system of an office building and, through it, several other computers. Moreover, from here, the virus can be downloaded to other RFID devices that interact with these systems, the study says. This contradicts the original assumption that in the case of a mere scan, the software that performs it cannot be modified in any way. The news was not good for technology, which has been much attacked by law enforcement organizations anyway.

Exploiting these flaws could easily overshadow an airport’s baggage handling system, with disastrous consequences for a traffic hub such as London’s Heathrow. The researchers intend the study as a mere call: they want to make RFID designers a little more forward-looking and make their products more secure until they become widespread.

The cost of manufacturing a single such device is currently about 14 cents (30 forints), which is expected to fall even further in the near future.