With the convince factor of some new technologies, security can still be an issue. With approximately 750,000 new RFID (Radio Frequency ID) US passports in circulation, one British man named Chris Paget in San Francisco set out to show how simple these new passports are to steal. Using a grant from a technology firm, he purchased less than $250 in RFID reader technology and outfitted his car to be a mobile RFID receiving mobile. From just having the equipment on and driving around for 20 minutes, he was able to successfully clone two passports.
Luckily, he made the imformative video to show the faults with the new technology, instead of actually stealing identities. Paget stated
that he actually wants the entire Western Hemisphere Trabel Initiative to be scrapped until a more secure system can be implemented. RFID is a promising new technology - ariport officials could authenticate a person's passport in seconds. However, as RFID is becoming more and more common, so is identity theft.
What some other news scources point out is that not all RFID devices are so unsecure. Levels of encryption and device operating range exist that could potentially make sensitive devices like RFID passports and driver's licences more secure. Clearly, with such sensitive information, the government needs to issue more secure ways of reading the data.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/02/video-hacker-war-drives-san-francisco-cloning-rfid-passports/
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