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Written by Daniel
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 09:13 |
Black Hat Cancels RFID Demo
DarkReading
FEBRUARY 27, 2007 | A presentation that would have exposed potential vulnerabilities in RFID security technology has been pulled from tomorrow's Black Hat conference agenda following threats of a patent lawsuit by the technology's manufacturer.
HID Global Corp., which makes smart cards and proximity badges based on RFID, alleges that the presentation -- which was scheduled to include a demonstration of how to clone an RFID chip -- infringes on its manufacturing patents.
The presentation, which was to be delivered by security research firm IOActive, promised to poke holes in RFID technology by showing how easy it is to duplicate and penetrate.
"Assuming no initial knowledge of electronics, I'll explain everything you need to know in order to build a working cloner, understand how it works, and see exactly why RFID is so insecure and untrustworthy," said Chris Paget, director of research and development at IOActive, in his conference abstract.
Conference organizers and representatives expressed frustration over the squelching of the presentation, which would have exposed flaws in RFID technologies that are already being used in passports, and may soon become standard issue in driver's licenses and other forms of identification.
Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director at the ACLU, noted that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is set to introduce its Real ID technology, a federally-approved travel identification card, later this week. The card includes RFID technology that may be vulnerable to the flaws outlined in the IOActive presentation.... MORE Comments in the Forums |
