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TUV News | Dec. 18, 2006
New passports using radio
frequency identification (RFID) chips to hold personal data can be
cloned in less than five minutes, it has been claimed.
Two technology consultants have
discovered that ePassports can be cloned using internet-bought
software and put the owner “more at risk” from identity thieves,
according to the BBC.
RFID chips on ePassports contain
information about the owner via radio signals which can be read from
a short distance.
However, Lukas Grunwald and
Christian Bottger bought an RFID reader on eBay and developed
software that provides a blank chip for the cloned details to be
copied onto.
And the cloned passport behaves no
differently to the original when tested, giving rise to the pair’s
claims that ePassports may not be as secure as originally believed.
“Nearly every country issuing this
passport has a few security experts who are yelling out…’This is not
secure. This is not a good idea to use this technology’,” said Mr
Grunwald.
Earlier this month, Adam Laurie, a
computer security expert analogised the ePassports’ technology as
like “installing a solid steel front door to your house and then
putting the key under the mat”.
TUV Product Service, part of the
TÜV SÜD Group of companies with 1bn Euros turnover, in excess of
9,500 employees and 500 locations worldwide, is a leading producer
of Compliance and Assurance Solutions for the RFID sector. Please
contact us (info@tuvps.co.uk) for further information.
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